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ow  Marcus  Whitman 
Saved  Oregon. 

A  TRUE  ROMANCE  OF  PATRIOTIC  HEROISM, 
CHRISTIAN  DEVOTION  AND 
FINAL  MARTYRDOM  .... 


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Life  on  the  Plains  and  Mountains  in  Pioneer  Daus 


■V 


OLIVER  W.  NIXON,  M.D.,  LL.D., 

For  Seventeen  Years  President  and  Literary  Editor 
of  the  Chicago  Inter  Ocean. 


INTRODUCTION   BY 

Rev.  Frank  W.  G'i*iiiaulu5,  DC,  LL.D. 


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1  'if>U  s 

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STAR  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

CHICAGO, 

1S95. 


Copyrighted,  1895,  by 

Oliver  W.  Nixon 

[All  rights  reserved.] 


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DEDICATION 


TO  THE  BOTB  AND  GIRLS  Of  THE 


Xittle  Xc0  Scbool  Douse  on  tbe  Mtllamette 


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NOW  THE  GRAY  HAIRED    UBN  AND  WOMEN  OF    OBBGON, 

WASHINGTON,  IDAHO  AND   CALIFORNIA,  TO  WBOU  I 

AM  INDEBTED  FOR  A  MULTITCDB  OF  FLBABIHO 

MBHOBIES  WHICH  HAVE  BEEN  UNDIMHED  BT 

TBABB  AND  DISTANCE,  I  OSATBFULLT 

OBDIOATE  THIS  VOLUME. 


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PREFACE. 


This  little  volume  is  not  intended  to  be  a  history  of 
Oregon  missions  or  even  a  complete  biography  of  Dr. 
Whitman.  Its  aim  is  simply  to  bring  out,  prominently, 
in  a  series  of  sketches,  the  heroism  and  Christian  pat- 
riotism of  the  man  who  rendered  great  and  distin- 
guished service  to  his  country,  which  has  never  been 
fully  appreciated  or  recognized. 

In  my  historical  facts  I  have  tried  to  be  correct  and 
to  give  credit  to  authorities  where  I  could.  I 
expect  some  of  my  critics  will  ask,  as  they  have  in  the 
past,  "Who  is  your  authority  for  this  fact  and  that?" 
I  only  answer,  I  don't  know  unless  [  am  authority.  In 
1850  and  185 1  I  was  a  teacher  of  the  young  men  and 
maidens,  and  bright-eyed  boys  and  girls  of  the  old 
pioneers  of  Oregon. 

Many  years  ago  I  told  the  story  of  that  school  to 
Hezekiah  Butterworth,  who  made  it  famous  in  his 
idyllic  romance,  "The  Leg  School  House  on  the  Colum- 
bia." It  was  a  time  when  history  was  being  made. 
The  great  tragedy  at  Waiilatpui  was  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  the  people.  With  such  surroundings  one  comes  in 
touch  with  the  spirit  of  history. 


PREFACE. 


Later  on,  I  was  purser  upon  the  Lot  Whitcomb,  the 
first  steamer  ever  built  in  Oregon,  and  came  in  contact 
with  all  classes  of  people.  If  I  have  failed  to  interpret 
the  history  correctly,  it  is  because  I  failed  to  under- 
stand it.  The  sketches  have  been  written  in  hours 
snatched  from  pressing  duties,  and  no  claim'  is  made 
of  high  literary  excellence.  But  if  they  aid  the  pub- 
lic even  in  a  small  degree,  to  better  understand  and 
appreciate  the  grand  man  whose  remains  rest  in  his 
martyr^s  grave  at  Waiilatpui,  unhonored  by  any  monu- 
ment, I  shall  be  amply  compensated.  o.  \v.  n. 


i 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction « 11-14 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Title  of  the  United  States  to  Oregon  —  The  Hudson 

Bay  Company  —  The  Louisiana  Purchase '5-37 

CHAPTER  U. 

English  and  American  Opinion  of  the  Value  of  the  North- 
west  Territory  —  The  Neglect  of  American  States* 
men 38-4Q 

CHAPTER  HI. 
The  Romance  of  the  Oregon  Mission 50-63 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Wedding  Journey  Across  the  Plains 63-8? 

CHAPTER  V. 
Mission  Life  at  Waiii  atpui 83-98 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Ride  to  Save  Oregon , . , . .     99-123 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Whitman  in  the  Presence  of  President  Tyler  and  Secre- 
tary of  State,  Daniel  Webster  —  The  Return  to 
Oregon 124-164 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  Backward  Look  at  Results 165-185 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Change  In  Public  Sentiment 186-300 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Failure  of  Modern   History  to  do  Justice  to  Dr. 

Whitman 201-2 16 

CHAPTER  X!. 
The  Massacre  at  Waiilatpui 217-237 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Biographical  —  Dr.  Whitman  —  Dr.  McLoughlin 238-249 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Whitman  Seminary  and  College 1,50-262 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Oregon  Then,  and  Oregon,  Washington  and  Idaho  Now.  263-276 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Life  on  the  Great  Plains  in  Pioneer  Days 277-304 

Appendix 305-339 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


I.    Whitman  Leaving  Home  on  His  Ride  to  Save  Oregon, 


2.    Falls  of  the  Willamette. 


3.    Map  of  Early  Oregon  and  the  West,  showing  Whit. 


man's  Route,  etc. 


4.    Steamer,  Lot  Whitcomb. 


5.    Dr.  Marcus  Whitman. 


6.    Mission  Station  at  Waiilatpui. 


7.    Mrs.  Narcissa  Prentice  Whitman. 


8.    Whitman  Pleading  for  Oregon  before  President 


Tyler  and  Secretary  Webster. 


9.    Rev.  H.  H.  Spaulding. 


10.    Rev.  Gushing  Eells,  D.  D. 

9 


10 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


II.    Whitman  Colle&2. 


12.    Whitman's  Grave. 


13.    Dr.  John  McLoughlin. 


14.    Rev.  S.  B.  L.  Penrcsf,  President  of  Whitman  College. 


15.    Dr.  Daniel  K.  Pearsons. 


16.    The  Log  School  House  on  the  Willamette. 


17.    A.  J.  Anderson,  Ph.  D. 


18.    Rev.  James  F.  Eaton,  D.  D. 


ig.    Portraits  of  Flathead  Indians  who  Visited  St.  Louis. 


U 


I  ( 


II 


INTRODUCTION 


BY 


REV.  FRANK  \V.  GUNSAULUS  D.  D. 
Pastor  of  Plymouth  Churchy  and  President  of  Armour  Institute,  Chicago. 


Among  the  efforts  at  description  which  will  associ- 
ate themselves  with  either  our  ignorance  or  our  intelli- 
gence as  to  our  own  country,  the  following  words  by 
our  greatest  ora*"or,  will  always  have  their  place: 

*'What  do  we  want  with  the  vast,  worthless  area, 
this  region  of  savages  and  wild  beasts,  of  deserts,  of 
shifting  sands  and  whirlwinds  of  dust,  of  cactu3  and 
prairie  dogs  ?  To  what  v.se  could  we  ever  hope  to  put 
these  great  deserts,  or  these  endless  mountain  ranges, 
impenetrable,  and  covered  to  their  base  with  eternal 
snow  ?  What  can  we  ever  hope  to  do  with  the  We'lern 
coast,  a  coast  of  three  thousand  miles,  rock-bound, 
cheerless,  and  uninviting  and  not  a  harbor  on  it  ? 
What  use  have  we  for  sfach'a  c'ourttry  ?  Mr.  President, 
I  will  never  vote;  one  ■x>eyit  fr^nt  tJ^iO  public  treasury  to 
place  the  Pacific  coast  one  in^h-  nearer  to  Boston  than 
it  is  now."  .    ■ ,    . 

Perhaps  no  word.;  utttfred:  rni'the  .United  States 
Senate  w^re  evef  "more  ce^<-a)n^y  Wide' of.tbeir  mark 
than  these  of  Daniel  Webster.  In  their  presence,  the 
name  of  Marcus  Whitman  is  a  bright  streak  of  light 
penetrating  a  vague  cloud-land.  Washington,  with 
finer  pre-vision  had  said:  **I  shall  not  be  contented 
until  I  have   explored    the  Western  country."     Even 

11 


12 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  Father  of  his  Country  did  not  understand  the  vast 
realm  to  which  he  referred,  nor  had  his  mind  any 
boundaries  sufficiently  great  to  inclose  that  portion  of 
the  country  which  Marcus  Whitman  preserved  to  the 
United  States. 

An  interesting  series  of  splendid  happenings  has 
united  the  ages  of  history  in  heroic  deeds,  and  this 
volume  is  a  fitting  testimonial  of  the  immense  signifi- 
cance of  one  heroic  deed  in  one  heroic  life.  The  con- 
servatism, which  is  always  respectable  and  respected, 
had  its  utterance  in  the  copious  eloquence  of  Daniel 
Webster;  the  radicalism  which  always  goes  to  the  root 
of  cveiy  question,  had  its  expression  in  the  answer 
which  Whitman  made  to  the  great  New  Englander. 

Even  Daniel  Webster,  at  a  moment  like  this,  seems 
less  grand  of  proportion  than  does  the  plain  and  poor 
missionary,  with  "a  half  pint  of  seed  wheat"  in  his 
hand,  and  words  upon  his  lips  which  are  an  enduring  part 
of  our  history.  Only  a  really  illumined  man,  at  that 
hour,  could  fitly  answer  Senator  McDuffie,  when  he 
said:  "Do  you  think  your  honest  farmers  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  York,  or  even  Ohio  and  Missouri,  would 
abandon  their  farms  and  go  upon  any  such  enterprise 
as  this  ?"  Whitman  made /ariswer  by  breaking  the  bar- 
rier of  the  Rockies,  wi.th'JiiSk  owp  jco'ir^^e  aiTjd.  faith. 

It  may  <veU,Ue  liopecj  that  suclt  st'ttifemb^iial  as  this 
may  be  adopted  iri  home  and  public  library  as  a  chap- 
ter in  Americanism  and  its  advance,  worthy  io  minis- 
ter to  the  imagination  and  idealism  of  our  whole  peo- 
ple. The  heroism  of  the  days  to  come  which  we  need, 
must  grow  out  of  the  heroism  of  the  days  that  have 
been.     The    impulse   to    do   and   dare    noble   things 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


tomorrow,  will  grow  strong  ironi  contemplating  the 
memory  of  such  yesterdays. 

This  volume  has  suggested  such  a  picture  as  will 
sometime  be  made  as  a  tribute  to  genius  and  the 
embodiment  of  highest  art  by  some  great  painter. 
The  picture  will  represent  the  room  in  which  the  old 
heroic  missionary,  having  traveled  over  mountains  and 
through  deserts  until  his  clothing  of  fur  was  well-nigh 
worn  from  him,  and  his  frame  bowed  by  anxiety  and 
exposure,  at  that  instant  when  the  great  Secretary  and 
orator  said  to  him:  "There  can  not  be  made  a  wagon 
road  over  the  mountains;  Sir  George  Simpson  says  so," 
whereat  the  intrepid  pioneer  replied:  "There  is  a 
wagon  road,  for  I  have  made  it." 

What  could  be  a  more  fitting  memorial  for  such  a 
man  as  this  than  a  Christian  college  called  Whitman 
College  ?  He  was  more  to  :he  ulterior  Northwest  than 
John  Harvard  has  ever  been  to  the  Northeast  of  our 
common  country.  Nothing  but  such  an  institution 
may  represent  all  the  ideas  and  inspirations  which 
were  the  wealth  of  such  a  man's  brain  and  heart  and 
his  gift  to  the  Republic.  He  was  an  avant  courier  of 
Ihc  truths  on  which  alone  republics  and  democracies 

may  endure. 

Whitman  not  only  conducted  the  expedition  of 
Ttitn  and  wagons  to  Oregon,  after  President  Tyler  had 
made  his  promise  that  the  bargain,  which  Daniel 
Webster  proposed,  should  not  be  made,  but  he  led  an 
expedition  of  ideas  and  sentiments  which  have  made 
the  names  Oregon,  Washington  and  Idaho  synonymous 
with  human  progress,  good  government  and  civiliza- 
tion.    When  the  soldier-statesman  of  the  Civil  War 


14 


INTRODUCTION. 


Col.  Baker,  mentioned  the  name  and  memory  of  Marcus 
Whitman  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  he  did  it  with  the 
utmost  reverence  for  one  of  the  founders  of  that  civi- 
lization which,  in  the  far  Northv/est,  has  spread  its 
influence  over  so  vast  a  territory  to  make  the  mines  of 
California  the  resources  of  freedom,  and  to  bind  the 
forests  and  plains  with  the  destiny  of  the  Union. 

When  Thomas  Starr  King  was  most  eloquent  in  his 
efforts  to  keep  California  true  to  liberty  and  union,  in 
that  struggle  of  debate  before  the  Civil  War  opened, 
he  worked  upon  the  basis,  made  larger  and  sounder  by 
the  fearless  ambassador  of  Christian  civilization.  In  an 
hour  when  the  mind  of  progress  grows  tired  of  the 
perpetual  presence  of  Napoleon,  again  clad  in  all  his 
theatrical  glamour  before  the  eyes  of  youth,  we  may 
well  be  grateful  for  this  sketch  of  a  sober  far-seeing 
man  of  loyal  devotion  to  the  great  public  ends;  whose 
unselfishness  made  him  seem,  even  then,  a  startling 
figure  at  the  nation's  capital;  whose  noble  bearing, 
great  faith,  supreme  courage,  and  vision  of  the  future, 
mark  him  as  a  genuine  and  typical  American. 

These  hopes  and  inspirations  are  all  enshrined  in 
the  educational  enterprise  known  as  Whitman  College. 
Every  student  of  history  must  be  glad  to  recognize  the 
fact  that  the  history  of  which  this  book  is  the  chroni- 
cle, is  also  a  prophesy,  and  that  whatever  may  be  the 
fate  of  men's  names  or  men's  schemes  in  the  flight  of 
time,  this  college  will  be  a  beacon,  shining  with  the 
light  of  Marcus  Whitman's  heroism  and  devotion. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE    TITLE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES    TO    OREGON 
UDSON    BAY    COMPANY. —  THE    LOUISIANA 
PURCHASE. 


THE 


The  home  of  civilization  was  originally  in  the 
far  East,  but  its  journeys  have  forever  been 
westward.  The  history  of  the  world  is  a  great 
panorama,  with  its  pictures  constantly  shifting 
and  changing.  The  desire  for  change  and  new 
fields  early  asserted  itself.  The  human  family 
divided  up  under  the  law  of  selection  and  affini- 
ties, shaped  themselves  into  bands  and  nation- 
alities, and  started  upon  their  journey  to  people 
the  world. 

Two  branches  of  the  original  stock  remained 
as  fixtures  in  Asia,  while  half  a  dozen  branches 
deployed  and  reached  out  for  the  then  distant  and 
unexplored  lands  of  the  West.  They  reached 
Europe.  The  Gaul  and  the  Celt,  the  Teuton 
and  Slav,  ever  onward  in  their  march,  reached 
and  were  checked  by  the  Atlantic  that  washed  the 
present  English,  German  and  Spanish  coasts. 
The  Latin,  Greek  and  lUyrian  wer*^  alike  checked 

15 


16 


HOW   MARCUS    WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


by  the  Mediterranean.  For  a  long  period  it 
seemed  as  if  their  journey  westward  was  ended; 
that  they  had  reached  their  Ultima  Thule;  that 
the  western  limit  had  been  found. 

For  many  centuries  the  millions  rested  in 
that  belief,  until  the  great  discoveries  of  1492 
awakened  them  to  new  dreams  of  western  possi- 
bilities. At  once  and  under  new  incentives 
the  westward  march  began  again.  The  States  of 
the  Atlantic  were  settled  and  the  wilde  *ness  sub- 
dued. No  sooner  was  this  but  partially  accom- 
plished than  the  same  spirit,  "the  western  fever," 
seized  upon  the  people. 

It  seems  to  have  been  engrafted  in  the  na- 
ture of  man,  as  it  is  in  the  nature  of  birds, 
to  migrate.  In  caravan  after  caravan  they 
pushed  their  way  over  the  Allegheny  M-^un- 
tains,  invaded  the  rich  valleys,  floated  down 
the  great  rivers,  gave  battle  to  the  savage  inhabi- 
tants and  in  perils  many,  and  with  discourage- 
ments sufficient  to  defeat  less  heroic  characters, 
they  took  possession  of  the  now  great  States  of 
the  Middle  West.  The  country  to  be  settled 
was  so  vast  as  to  seem  to  our  fathers  limitless. 
They  had  but  little  desire  as  a  nation  for  further 
expansion. 

Up  to  the  date  of  1 792,  the  Far  West  was  an 

nexplored  region.    The  United  States  made  no 

claim  to  any  lands  bordering  upon  the  Pacific, 

and  the  discovery  made  in  the  year  1792  was 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


17 


more  accidental  than  intentional,  as  far  as  the 
nation  was  concerned. 

Captain  Robert  Gray,  who  made  the  discov- 
ery, was  born  in  Tiverton,  R.  I.,  1755,  and  died 
at  Charleston,  S.  C,  in  1806.  He  was  a  famous 
sailor,  and  was  the  first  citizen  who  ever  carried 
the  American  flag  around  the  globe.  His  vessel, 
The  Columbia,  was  fitted  out  by  a  syndicate  of 
Boston  merchants,  with  articles  for  barter  for 
the  natives  in  Pacific  ports.  In  his  second  great 
voyage  in  1792  he  discovered  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river.  There  had  been  rumors  of  such 
a  great  river  through  Spanish  sources,  and  the 
old  American  captain  probably,  mainly  for  the 
sake  of  barter  and  to  get  fresh  supplies,  had  his 
nautical  eyes  open. 

Men  see  through  a  glass  darkly  and  a  wiser, 
higher  power  than  man  may  have  guided  the 
old  explorer  in  safety  over  the  dangerous  bar, 
into  the  great  river  he  discovered  and  named. 
He  was  struck  by  the  grandeur  and  magnificence 
of  the  river  as  well  as  by  the  beauty  of  the 
country.  He  at  once  christened  it  "The  Co- 
lumbia," the  name  of  his  good  ship  which  had 
already  carried  the  American  flag  around  the 
globe.  He  sailed  several  miles  up  the  river, 
landed  and  took  possession  in  the  name  of  the 
United  States. 

It  is  a  singu  ar  coincidence  that  both  Spain 
and  England  had  vessels  just  at  this  time  on  this 


18 


now   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


coast,  hunting  for  the  same  river,  and  so  near  to- 
gether as  to  be  in  hailing  distance  of  each  other. 
Captain  Gray  only  a  few  days  before  had  met 
Captain  Vancouver,  the  Englishman,  and  had 
spoken  with  him.  Captain  Vancouver  had  sailed 
over  the  very  ground  passed  over  soon  after  by 
Gray,  but  failed  to  find  the  river.  He  had  noted 
too,  a  change  in  the  color  of  the  waters,  but  it  did 
not  sufficiently  impress  him  to  cause  an  investi- 
gation. 

After  Captain  Gray  had  finished  his  explora- 
tion and  gone  to  sea,  he  again  fell  in  with  Van- 
couver and  reported  the  result  of  his  discover- 
ies,, Vancouver  immediately  turned  about,  found 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  sailed  up  the  Columbia 
to  the  rapids  and  up  the  Willamette  to  near  the 
falls. 

In  the  conference  between  the  English  and 
Americans  in  1827,  which  resulted  in  the  renewal 
of  the  treaty  of  181 8,  while  the  British  commis- 
sioners acknowledged  that  Gray  was  first  to  dis- 
cover and  enter  the  Columbia  river,  yet  they  de- 
manded that  **  he  should  equally  share  the  honor 
with  Captain  Vancouver."  They  claimed  that 
while  Gray  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
he  only  sailed  up  it  a  few  miles,  while  "  Captain 
Vancouver  made  a  full  and  complete  discov- 
ery." One  of  the  authorities  stated  concisely 
that,  "Captain  Gray's  claim  is  limited  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river." 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVED   OKEGON. 


19 


This  limit  was  in  plain  violation  of  the  rules 
regulating  all  such  events,  and  no  country  knew 
it  better  than  England.  Besides,  it  was  Captain 
Gray's  discovery,  told  to  the  English  commander 
Vancouver,  which  made  him  turn  back  on  hit; 
course  to  rediscover  the  same  river.  The  claim 
that  the  Engli^a  made,  that  "Captain  Gray 
made  but  a  single  step  in  the  progress  of  dis- 
covery," in  the  light  of  these  facts,  marks  their 
claims  as  remarkably  weak.  The  right  of  dis- 
covery was  then  the  first  claim  made  by  the 
United  States  upon  Oregon. 

The  second  was  by  the  Louisiana  purchase 
from  France  in  1803.  This  was  the  same  terri- 
tory ceded  from  France  to  Spain  in  1762  and  re- 
turned to  France  in  1800,  and  sold  to  the  United 
States  for  $15,000,000  in  1803,  "with  all  its  rights 
and  appurtenances,  as  fully  and  in  the  same 
manner  as  they  were  acquired  by  the  French  Re- 
public." 

There  has  always  been  a  dispute  as  to  how 
far  into  the  region  of  the  northwest  this  claim 
of  the  French  extended.  In  the  sale  no  paral- 
lels were  given  ;  but  it  was  cLimed  that  their 
rights  reached  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Dr.  Bar- 
rows says,  "  If,  however,  the  claims  of  France 
failed  to  reach  the  Pacific  on  the  parallel  of  49 
degrees,  it  must  have  been  because  they  en- 
countered the  old  claims  of  Spain,  that  preceded 
the  Nootka  treaty  and  were  tacitly  conceded  by 


20 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVEO   OREGON. 


England.  Between  the  French  claims  and  the 
Spanish  claims  there  was  left  no  territory  for 
England  to  base  a  claim  on.  If  the  United 
States  did  not  acquire  through  to  the  Pacific  in 
the  Lousiana  purchase,  it  was  because  Spain  was 
owner  of  the  territory  prior  to  the  first,  second 
and  third  transfers.  Itjs  difficult  to  perceive 
standing  ground  for  the  English  in  either  of  the 
claims  mentioned. 

The  claim  of  England  that  the  Nootka  treaty 
of  1790  abrogated  the  rights  of  Spain  to  the 
territory  of  Oregon,  which  she  then  held,  is  un- 
tenable, from  the  fact  that  no  right  of  sover- 
eignty or  jurisdiction  was  conveyed  by  that 
treaty.  Whatever  right  Spain  had  prior  to  that 
treaty  was  not  disturbed,  and  all  legal  rights  in- 
vested in  Spain  were  still  in  force  when  she 
ceded  the  territory  to  France  in  1800  and  also 
when  France  ceded  the  same  to  the  United 
States  in  1803. 

The  third  claim  of  the  United  States  was  by 
the  commission  sent  out  by  Jefferson  in  1803, 
when  Lewis  and  Clark  and  their  fellow  voyagers 
struck  the  head  waters  of  the  Columbia  and  fol- 
lowed it  to  its  mouth  and  up  its  tributary  rivers. 

The  fourth  was  the  actual  settlement  of  the 
Astor  Fur  Company  at  Astoria  in  181 1.  True  it 
was  a  private  enterprise,  but  was  given  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  United  States  and  a  U.  S.  Naval 
Officer  was  allowed  to   command   the   leading 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVKU  OKRUUN. 


21 


vessel  in  Astor's  enterprise,  thus  placinji  the  seal 
of  nationality  upon  it.  True  the  town  was  cap- 
tured and  the  effects  confiscated  in  1812  by  the 
British  squadron  of  the  Pacific,  commandetl  by 
Captain  Hillyar,  but  the  fact  of  actual  settle- 
ment by  Americans  at  Astoria,  even  for  a  short 
time,  had  its  value  in  the  later  argument.  In 
the  treaty  of  Ghent  with  England  in  18 14,  As- 
toria, with  all  its  rights  was  ordered  to  be  restored 
to  its  original  owners,  but  even  this  was  not  con- 
summated until  1846. 

America's  fifth  claim  was  in  her  treaty  with 
Spain  in  1818,  when  Spain  relinquished  any  and 
all  claims  to  the  territory  in  dispute  to  the  United 
States. 

The  sixth  and  last  claim  was  from  Mexico, 
by  a  treaty  in  1828,  by  which  the  United  States 
acquired  all  interest  Mexico  claimed,  formerly  in 
common  with  Spain,  but  now  under  her  own 
government.- 

Such  is  a  brief  statement,  but  I  trust  a  sufficient 
one,  for  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  ques- 
tions of  ownership. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  United  States  was 
vested  in  all  the  rights  held  over  Oregon  by 
every  other  power  except  one,  that  of  Great 
Britain.  Her  claim  rested,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
the  fact  that  "  Captain  Gray  only  discovered  the 
mouth  of  the  River,"  but  did  not  survey  it  to  the 
extent  that   the    English    Captain    Vancouver 


88 


HOW    MAR(  US    WHIIMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


did,  after  being  told  by  Gray  of  his  discovery. 
They  also  made  claims  of  settlement  by  their 
Fur  Company,  just  as  tiu;  United  States  did  by 
the  settlement  made  by  Astor  and  otheis.  As 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  and  the  Northwest 
Fur  Company  of  Montreal  figure  so  extensively 
in  the  contest  for  English  ownership  of  Oregon, 
it  is  well  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  their  origin  and 
power. 

The  Hudson  Bay  Company  was  organized  in 
1670  by  Charles  II,  with  Prince  Rupert,  the  King's 
cousin  at  its  head,  with  other  favorites  of  his 
Court.  They  were  invested  with  remarkable 
powers,  such  as  had  never  before,  nor  have  since, 
been  granted  to  a  corporation.  They  were  granted 
absolute  p.  jprietorship,  with  subordinate  sover- 
eignty, over  all  that  country  known  by  name  of 
"Rupert's  Land  "  including  all  regions  "  discov- 
ered or  undiscovered  within  the  entrance  to 
Hudson  Strait."  It  was  by  far  the  largest  of  all 
English  dependencies  at  that  time. 

For  more  than  a  century  the  company  con- 
fined its  active  operations  to  a  coast  traffic. 

The  original  stock  of  this  company  was 
$50,820.  During  the  first  fifty  years  the  capital 
stock  was  increased  to  $457,000  wholly  out  of  the 
profits,  besides  paying  dividends. 

During  the  last  half  of  the  17th  Century  the 
Northwest  Fur  Company  became  a  formidable 
opponent  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  and  the 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVKU   OREGON. 


28 


fivalry  and  great  vv(3alth  of  both  companies 
served  to  stimulate  tliem  to  reach  out  toward 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

After  Canada  had  become  an  English  de- 
pendency and  the  competition  had  grown  into 
such  proportions  as  to  interfere  with  the  great 
monopoly,  in  the  year  1821,  there  was  a  coalition 
between  the  Northwest  and  the  Hudson  Bay 
Companies  on  a  basis  of  equal  value,  and  the 
consolidated  stock  was  marked  at  $1,916,000, 
every  dollar  of  which  was  profits,  as  was  shown 
at  the  time,  except  the  original  stock  of  both 
companies  which  amounted  to  about  $135,000. 
And  yet  during  all  this  period  there  had  been 
made  an  unusual  dividend  to  stockholders  of  10 
per  cent. 

Single  vessels  from  headquarters  carried  furs 
to  London  valued  at  from  three  to  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  a 
company  which  was  so  rolling  in  wealth  and 
which  was  in  supreme  control  of  a  territory 
reaching  through  seventy-five  degrees  of  longi- 
tude, from  Davis  Strait  to  Mt.  Saint  Elias,  and 
through  twenty-eight  degrees  of  latitude  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  to  the  California 
border,  should  hold  tenaciously  to  its  privileges. 

It  was  a  grand  monopoly,  but  it  must  be  said 
of  it  that  no  kingly  power  ever  ruled  over  savage 
subjects  with  such  wisdom  and  discretion.  Of 
necessity,  they  treated   their  savage   workmen 


24 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


kindly,  but  they  managed  to  make  them  fill  the 
coffers  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  with  a 
wealth  of  riches,  as  the  years  came  and  went. 
Their  lives  and  safety  and  profits  all  depended 
upon  keeping  their  dependents  in  a  good  humor 
and  binding  them  to  themselves.  The  leading 
men  of  the  company  were  men  of  great  business 
tact  and  shrewdness,  and  one  of  their  chief 
requisites  was  to  thoroughly  understand  Indian 
character. 

They  managed  year  by  year  so  to  gain  con- 
trol of  the  savage  tribes  that  the  factor  of  a 
trading  post  had  more  power  over  a  fractious 
band,  than  could  have  been  exerted  by  an  army 
of  men  with  guns  and  bayonets.  If,  now  and 
then,  a  chief  grew  sullen  and  belligerent,  he  was 
at  once  quietly  bought  up  by  a  judicious  present, 
and  the  company  got  it  all  back  many  times  over 
from  the  tribe,  when  their  furs  were  marketed. 

It  was  the  refusal  of  the  missionaries  of  Ore- 
gon to  condone  crime  and  wink  at  savage  meth- 
ods, as  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  did,  which  first 
brought  about  misunderstanding  and  unpleasant- 
ness, as  we  shall  see  in  another  place. 

It  was  this  power  and  controlling  influence 
which  met  the  pioneer  fur  traders  and  mission- 
aries, upon  entering  Oregon.  They  controlled 
the  savage  life  and  the  white  men  there  were 
wholly  dependent  upon  them. 

In  iSii  an  American  r\ir  Company  at  Asto- 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


25 


ria,  undertook  to  open  business  upon  what  they 
regarded  as  A-merican  soil.  They  had  scarcely 
settled  down  to  work  when  the  war  of  1812  be- 
gan and  they  were  speedily  routed. 

In  1818  a  treaty  was  made  which  said,  "It  is 
agreed  that  any  country  that  may  be  claimed 
by  either  party  on  the  Northwest  coast  of  Amer- 
ica westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains  shall,  to- 
gether with  its  harbors,  bays,  creeks  and  the 
navigation  of  all  rivers  within  the  same,  be  free 
and  open  for  ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  sig- 
nature of  the  present  convention,  to  the  vessels, 
citizens,  and  subjects  of  the  two  powers;  it  being 
well  understood  that  the  agreement  is  not  to  be 
construed  to  the  prejudice  of  any  claim  which 
either  of  the  two  high  contracting  parties  may 
have  to  any  part  of  said  country;  nor  shall  it  be 
taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any  other  power  or 
state  to  any  of  said  country;  the  only  object  of 
the  high  contracting  parties  in  that  respect  being 
to  prevent  disputes  and  differences  among  them- 
selves." 

That  looked  fair  and  friendly  enough.  But 
how  did  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  carry  it  out? 
They  went  on  just  as  they  had  done  before,  gov- 
erning to  suit  their  own  selfish  interests.  They 
froze  out  and  starved  out  every  American  Fur 
Company  that  dared  to  settle  in  any  portion  of 
their  territory.  They  fixed  the  price  of  every 
commodity,  and  had  such  a  hold  on  the  various 

75952 


'm 


26 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


tribes  that  a  foreign  company  had  no  chance  to 
live  and  prosper. 

It  so  continued  until  the  ten  year  limit  \.'as 
nearly  up,  when  in  1827  the  commission  repre- 
senting the  two  powers  met  and  re-enacted  the 
treily  of  18 18,  which  went  into  effect  in  1828.  It 
was  a  giant  monopoly,  but  dealing  as  it  did  with 
savage  life,  and  gathering  its  wealth  from  sources 
which  had  never  before  contributed  to  the 
world's  commerce,  it  was  allowed  to  run  its  course 
until  it  came  in  contact  with  the  advancing  civil- 
ization of  the  United  States,  and  was  worsted  in 
the  conflict. 

With  the  adoption  of  the  Ashburton  treaty 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  was  shorn  of  much  of 
its  kingly  power  and  old  time  grandeur.  But  it 
remained  a  money  making  organization.  Under 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  the  great  corporation 
was  fully  protected.  This  Ashburton  treaty  was 
written  in  England  and  from  English  stand- 
points, and  every  property  and  possessory  right 
of  this  powerful  Company  was  strictly  guarded. 
The  interests  of  the  company  were  made  English 
interests. 

Under  this  treaty  the  Un.ted  States  agreed  to 
pay  all  valuations  upon  Hudson  Bay  Company 
property  south  of  forty-nine  degrees;  while  Eng- 
land was  to  make  a  settlement  for  all  above  that 
line.  The  company  promptly  sent  in  a  bill  to 
the  United  States  for  $3,882,036.27,  while  their 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


27 


dependent  company,  the  Piiget  Sound  Agricul- 
tural Company,  sent  in  a  more  modest  demand 
for  $i,i6S,ooo.  These  bills  were  in  a  state  of 
liquidation  until  1864,  when  the  United  States 
made  a  final  settlement,  and  paid  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company  $450,000  and  the  Puget  Sound 
Company  $200,000. 

They  also,  at  the  time  of  presenting  bills  to 
the  United  States,  presented  one  to  England  for 
$4,990,036.07.  In  i86q  the  English  government 
settled  the  claim  by  paying  $1,500,000.  This 
amount  was  paid  from  the  treasury  of  the  Do- 
minion of  Canada,  and  all  the  vast  territory 
north  of.  49"  came  under  the  government  of  the 
Dominion.  It  was,  however,  stipulated  and 
agreed  that  the  company  should  retain  all  its 
forts,  with  ten  acres  of  ground  surrounding  each, 
together  with  one-twentieth  of  all  the  land  from 
the  Red  River  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  besides 
valuable  blocks  of  land  to  which  it  laid  special 
claim. 

The  company  goes  on  trading  as  of  old;  its 
organization  is  still  complete;  it  still  makes  large 
dividends  of  about  $400,000  per  year,  and  has 
untold  prospective  wealth  in  its  lands,  which  are 
the  best  in  the  Dominion. 

Among  the  most  interesting  facts  connected 
with  our  title  to  Oregon  are  those  in  connection 
with  the  Louisiana  purchase  by  the  United  States 
from  France  in  1803.     Many  readers  of  current 


•:t 


28 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


history  have  overlooked  the  fact,  that  it  was 
wholly  due  to  England,  and  her  over-vireening 
ambition,  that  the  United  States  was  enabled  to 
buy  the  great  Domain  Letters,  which  have  re- 
cently been  published,  which,  written  by 
those  closest  to  the  high  contracting  parties,  re- 
vealed the  romance,  and  the  inside  .facts  of  this 
great  deal,  perhaps  the  most  important  the 
United  States  ever  made,  and  made  so  speedily 
as  to  dazzle  the  Nation. 

Few  take  in  the  fact  that  the  "l^ouisiana 
Purchase"  meant  not  only  the  rich  state  at  the 
mouth  of  our  great  river,  but  also,  Arkansas, 
Missouri,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Wyoming, 
Montana,  Idaho,  Oregon,  with  probably  the  two 
Dakotas.  Roughly  estimated  it  was  a  claim  by 
a  foreign  power  upon  our  continent  to  territory 
of  over  900,000  square  miles. 

At  the  time,  but  little  was  thought  of  its  value 
save  and  except  the  getting  possession  of  the 
rich  soil  of  Louisiana  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Southern  planter,  and  being  able  to  own  pnd 
control  the  mouth  of  our  great  river  upon  which, 
at  tha-  time,  all  the  states  of  the  North  and  West 
were  wholly  depende-'t  for  their  commerce. 

While  Napoleon  and  the  French  Government 
were  upon  the  most  friendly  terms  with  the 
United  States,  and  conceded  to  our  commerce 
the  widest  facilities,  yet  there  was  a  lurking  fear 
that  such  conditions  might  at  any  time  change. 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OJ<EGON. 


29 


The  desirability  of  obtaining  such  possession  had 
often  been  canvassed,  with  scarcely  a  ray  of 
hope  for  its  consummation.  The  United  States 
was  poor,  and  while  the  South  and  the  West 
were  deeply  interested,  the  East,  which  held  the 
balance  of  power,  wa*?  determinedly  set  against 
it.  The  same  narrow  statesmanship  existed 
then,  which  later  on  undervalued  all  our  posses- 
sions beyond  the  Stony  Mountains,  and  was  will- 
ing and  even  anxious  that  they  should  pass  into 
the  possession  of  a  foreign  power. 

France  acquired  this  vast  property  from  Spain 
in  1800.  In  March,  1802,  there  was  a  great  treaty 
entered  into  between  France  on  one  side  and 
Great  Britain,  Spain  and  the  Batavian  Republic 
on  the  other.  It  was  known  as  "The  Amiens 
Treaty."  It  was  a  short-lived  treaty  which  was 
hopelessly  ruptured  in  1803. 

England,  foreseeing  the  rupture,  had  not  de- 
layed to  get  ready  for  the  event.  Then  as  now, 
she  was,  "Mistress  upon  the  high  seas,"  and  set 
about  arranging  to  seize  everything  afloat  that 
carried  the  French  flag.  Her  policy  was  soon 
made  plain,  and  that  was  to  first  make  war  upon 
all  French  dependencies. 

No  man  knew  better  than  Napoleon  how 
powerless  he  would  be  to  make  any  successful 
defense.  His  treasury  was  well  nigh  bankrupt 
and  he  must  have  money  for  home  defense  as 
soon  as  the  victorious  army  of  the  enemy  should 


1 1 
I 


■tk 


80 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


return  from  the  Mississippi  campaign,  which  he 
foresaw.  While  the  treaty  of  Amiens  was  not 
really  abrogated  until  May,  1803,  yet  upon  Janu- 
ary I,  1803,  the  whole  matter  was  well  under- 
stood by  Napoleon  and  his  advisors. 

Early  in  that  month  the  government  received 
.squieting  news  from  Admiral  Villeneuve  who 
was  in  command  of  the  French  fleet  in  West 
India  waters.  It  plainly  stated  that  it  was  un- 
doubtedly the  fact  that  the  first  blow  of  the  En- 
glish would  be  made  at  New  Orleans. 

This  knowledge  was  promptly  conveyed  to 
the  American  Minister  Monroe,  well  knowing 
that  the  United  States  was  almost  as  much  inter- 
ested in  the  matter  as  France  was,  as  it  would 
stop  all  traffic  from  all  the  States  along  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  be  a  death  blow  to 
American  prosperity  for  an  indefinite  period. 
The  recently  published  letters,  already  referred 
to,  say  of  the  conference  between  Minister  Mon- 
roe and  Bonaparte: 

"  Unfortunately  Mr.  Monroe  at  this  time  did 
not  understand  the  French  language  well  enough 
to  follow  a  speaker  who  talked  as  rapidly  as  did 
Bonaparte,  and  the  intervention  of  .an  inter- 
preter was  necessary.  '  We  are  not  able  alone 
to  defend  the  colony  of  Louisiana,'  the  First  Con- 
sul began.  *  Your  new  regions  of  the  southwest 
are  nearly  as  deeply  interested  in  its  remaining 
in  friendly  hands  as  we  are  in  holding  it.      Our 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


31 


fleet  is  not  equal  to  the  needs  of  the  P'rench 
Nation.  Can  you  not  help  us  to  defend  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  river?' 

*  We  could  not  take  such  a  step  without  a 
treaty,  offensive  and  defensive,'  the  American 
answered.  '  Our  Senate  really  is  the  treaty- 
making  power.  It  is  against  us.  The  President, 
Mr.  Jefferson,  is  my  friend  as  well  as  my  superior 
officer.  Tell  me,  General,  what  you  have  in  your 
mind.' 

■  Bonaparte  walked  the  room,  a  small  private 
consulting  cabinet  adjoining  the  Salles  des  Am- 
bassadeurs.  He  had  his  hands  clusped  behind 
him,  his  head  bent  forward — his  usual  position 
when  in  deep  thought.  '  I  acquired^  the  great 
territory  to  which  the  i  ".ssissippi  mouth  is  the 
entrance,'  he  finally  began,  '  and  I  have  the 
right  to  dispose  of  my  own.  Frr^nce  is  not  able 
now  to  hold  it.  Rather  than  see  it  in  England's 
hands,  I  donate  it  to  America.  Why  will  your 
country  not  buy  it  from  France?'  There  Bona- 
parte stopped.  Mr.  Monroe's  face  was  like  a 
flame.  W^hat  a  diplomatic  feat  it  would  be  for 
him!  What  a  triumph  for  the  administration  of 
Jefferson  to  add  such  a  territory  to  the  national 
domain! 

No  man  living  was  a  better  judge  of  his  fel- 
lows than  Bonaparte.  He  read  the  thoughts  of 
the  man  before  him  as  though  they  were  on  a 
written  scroll.     He  saw  the  emotions  of  his  soul. 


i     I 


m 


I 


If 


32 


HOW   MAKCUS   WHirMAM   SAVED   OREGON. 


*  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it?'  said  General 
Bonaparte. 

'The  matter  is  so  vast  in  its  direct  relations 
to  my  country  and  what  may  result  from  it,  that 
it  dazes  me,'  the  American  answered.  'But  the 
idea  is  magnificent.  It  deserves  to  emanate  from 
a  mind  like  yours.'  The  First  Consul  bowed  low. 
Monroe  never  flattered,  and  the  look  of  truth 
was  in  his  eyes,  its  ring  in  his  voice.  'I  must 
send  a  special  communication  at  once  touching 
this  matter  to  President  Jefferson.  My  messen- 
ger must  take  the  first  safe  passage  to  America.' 

'The  Blonde,  the  fastest  ship  in  our  navy, 
leaves  Brest  at  once  with  orders  for  the  West 
Indian  fleet,  I  will  detain  her  thirty-six  hours, 
till  your  dispatches  are  ready,'  the  First  Consul 
said.      'Your  messenger  shall  go  on  our  ship.' 

'How  much  shall  I  say  the  territory  will  cost 
us?'  The  great  Corsican — who  was  just  ending 
the  audience,  which  had  been  full  two  hours 
long — came  up  to  the  American  Minister.  After 
a  moment  he  spoke  again.  '  Between  nations 
who  are  really  friends  there  need  be  no  chaffer- 
ing. Could  I  defend  this  territory,  not  all  the 
gold  of  the  world  would  buy  it.  But  I  am  giving 
to  a  friend  what  I  am  unable  to  keep.  I  need 
100,000,000  francs  in  coin  or  its  equivalent. 
Whatever  action  we  take  must  be  speedy.  Above 
all,  let  there  be  absolute  silence  and  secrecy,' 
and  Bonaparte   bowed  our  minister   out.      The 


ui 


(U 


(U 


i  If; 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OKKOON. 


38 


audience  was  ended.  The  protracted  audience 
between  Napoleon  and  the  American  Minister 
was  such  as  to  arouse  gossip,  but  the  secret  was 
safe  in  the  hands  of  the  two  men,  both  of 
whom  were  statesmen  and  diplomats  who  knew 
the  value  of  secrecy  in  such  an  emergency. 

The  profoundly  astonishing  dispatches  reach- 
ed President  Jefferson  promptly.  He  kept  it  a 
secret  until  he  could  sound  a  majority  of  the 
Senators  and  be  assured  of  the  standing  of  such 
a  proposition. 

The  main  difficulty  that  was  found  would  be 
in  raising  the  75,000,000  francs  it  was  proposed 
to  give.  In  those  days,  with  a  depleted  treasury, 
it  was  a  large  sum  of  money.  The  United  States 
had  millions  of  unoccupied  acres,  but  had  few 
millions  in  cash  in  its  treasury.  But  o  r  states- 
men, to  their  great  honor,  proved  equal  to  the 
emergency.  Through  the  agency  of  Stephen 
Girard  as  financier  in  chief,  the  loan  necessary 
was  negotiated  through  the  Dutch  House  of 
Hapes  in  Amsterdam,  and  the  money  paid  to 
France,  and  the  United  States  entered  into  pos- 
session of  the  vast  estate." 

This  much  of  the  well-nigh  forgotten  history 
we  have  thought  appropriate  to  note  in  this 
connection;  first,  because  of  the  new  light  given 
to  it  from  the  recent  disclosures  made;  and, 
second,  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  a  second 

8 


84 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


time,  forty-thrco  years  later,  it  served  a  valiant 
purpose  in  thvvartin<^  ICnglish  ambition  and  serv- 
in^^  America's  highest  interests. 

Hsti  mated  from  the  stand  [joint  of  money  and 
material  values,  it  was  a  great  transaction,  espe- 
cially notable  in  view  f)f  existing  condi:ions,  but 
from  the  standpoint  of  State  and  National  gran- 
deur, carrying  with  it  peace  and  hope  and  hap- 
piness to  millions,  and  continuous  rule  of  the 
Republic  from  ocean  to  ocean,  it  assumes  a 
greatness  never  surpassed  in  a  single  transaction, 
and  not  easily  over-estimated,  and  never  in  the 
history  of  the  English  people  did  a  single  tran- 
saction, with  dates  so  widely  separated,  arise,  and 
so  effectually  check  their  imperious  demands. 

The  American  Republic  may  well  remember 
with  deep  gratitude  President  Jefferson,  and 
the  far-seeing  statesmen  who  rallied  to  his  call 
and  consummated  the  grand  work.  They  can  at 
the  same  time  see  the  foresight  ami  wisdom  of 
Jefferson  in,  at  once,  the  very  nv  "  year,  sending 
the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Columbia  River,  and  causing  a  com- 
plete survey  to  be  made  to  its  mouth.  It  was  a 
complete  refutation  of  the  claim  of  the  English 
Commissioners,  in  1837, that  while  "Captain  Gray 
only  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  river,  Captain 
Vancouver  made  a  complete  survey."  The  Amer- 
ican mistake  was,  not  in  the  purchase  and  active 
work  then  done,  but  the  lassitude  and  inexcusable 


HOW    MAKCUS   WHITMAN   SAVICI)   OKEOON. 


85 


neglect  in  the  forty  subsequent  years  which  im- 
periled every  interest  the  Republic  held  in  the 
territory  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

When  the  treaty  of  1846  was  signed,  it  was 
hoped  that  the  questions  at  issue  were  settled 
forever;  but  the  Hudson  Hay  Company  was  slow 
to  surrender  its  ^rasp  on  any  of  the  territory  it 
could  hold,  and  especially  one  so  rich  in  all  ma- 
terials that  constituted  its  wealth  and  power. 
'  The  treaty  of  1846  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  read: 

"  From  the  point  on  the  49th  parallel  to  the 
middle  of  the  channel  which  separates  the  conti- 
nent from  Vancouver's  Island  and  thence  south- 
erly through  the  middle  ot  said  channel  and  of 
the  Fuca  Straits,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  provided, 
however,  that  the  navigation  of  such  channel 
and  straits  south  of  the  latitude  49"  remain 
free  and  open  to  both  parties." 

This  led  to  after  trouble  and  much  ill  feeling. 
The  passage  referred  to  in  the  treaty  is  about 
seven  miles  wide,  between  the  archipelago  and 
Vancouver  Island.  The  archipelago  is  made 
up  of  half  a  dozen  principal  islands  and  many 
smaller  ones.  The  largest  island,  San  Juan,  con- 
tained about  50,000  acres,  and  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company,  knov/ing  something  of  its  value,  had 
taken  possession,  and  proposed  to  hold  it.  The 
legislature  of  Oregon,  however,  included  it  in 
Island  County  by  an  act  of  1852,  which  passed  to 


v\ 


36 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


the  Territory  of  Washington  in  1853  by  the  di- 
vision of  Oregon.     In  1854  the  Collector  of  Cus- 
toms for  the  Puget  Sound  came  in  conflict  with 
the  Hudson  Bay  authorities  and  a  lively  row  was. 
raised. 

The  Hudson  Bay  Company  raised  the  English 
flag  and  the  collector  as  promptly  landed  and 
raised  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  There  was  a  con- 
stant contention  between  the  United  States  and 
State  authorities,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  people, 
in  which  the  latter  were  worsted,  until  in  1856-7, 
after  much  correspondence,  both  governments 
appointed  a  commission  to  settle  the  difficulty. 
Then  followed  years  of  discussion  which  grew 
from  time  to  time  warlike,  but  there  was  no  set- 
tlement of  the  points  in  dispute. 

In  December,  i860,  the  British  Government, 
tired  of  the  contest,  proposed  arbitration  by  one 
of  the  European  powers  and  named  either  the 
Swiss  Republic,  Denmark  or  Belgium.  Then 
followed  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  and  America 
had  no  time  to  reach  the  case  until  1868-9,  when 
the  whole  matter  was  referred  to  two  commis- 
sioners from  each  government  and  the  boundary 
to  be  determined  by  the  President  of  the  Gen- 
eral Council  of  the  Swiss  Republic. 

This  proposition  was  defeated  and  afterward 
in  187 1  the  whole  matter  was  left  to  the  decision 
of  the  Emperor  of  Germany.  He  made  the 
award  to  the  United  States  on  all  points  of  dispute 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


87 


in  October,  1872,  and  thus  ended  the  long 
contest  over  the  boundary  line  between  the  two 
countries,  after  more  than  half  a  century's 
bickering. 


'■!''!% 


v^  1  i  I 


t      ■■S|fH 


CHAPTER  II. 


ENGLISH   AND    AMERICAN   OPINION    OF   THE   VALUE    OF 

THE    NORTHWEST  TERRITORY — THE    NEGLECT 

OF   AMERICAN   STATESMEN. 


The  history  briefly  recited  in  the  previous 
chapter,  fully  reveals  the  status  of  the  United 
States  as  to  ownership  of  Oregon.  Prior  Lo  the 
date  to  which  our  story  more  specifically  relates, 
the  United  States  had  gone  on  perfecting  her  titles 
by  the  various  means  already  described.  For  the 
Nation's  interest,  it  was  a  great  good  fortune  at 
this  early  period  that  a  broad-minded,  far-seeing 
man  like  Thomas  Jefferson  was  President.  It 
was  his  wisdom  and  discretion  and  statesman- 
ship that  enabled  the  country  to  overcome  all 
difficulties  and  to  make  the  Louisiana  purchase. 

Looking  deeper  into  the  years  of  the  future 
than  his  contemporaries,  he  organized  the  expe- 
dition of  Lewis  and  Clarke  and  surveyed  the  Co- 
lumbia Ri-'er  from  its  source  to  its  mouth.  It  was 
regarded  by  many  at  the  time  as  a  needless  and 
unjustifiable  expense;  and  their  report  did  not 


ss 


HOW    MARCUS    WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON, 


89 


create  a  ripple  of  applause,  and  it  was  an  even 
nine  years  after  the  completion  of  the  expedi- 
tion, and  after  the  death  of  one  of  the  explorers, 
before  the  report  was  printed  and  given  to  the 
public. 

But  no  reader  of  history  will  fail  to  see  how 
important  the  expedition  was  as  a  link  in  our 
chain  of  evidence.  The  great  misfortune  of  that  ' 
time  was,  that  there  were  not  more  Jeffersons. 
True,  it  did  not  people  Oregon,  nor  was  it  fol- 
lowed by  any  legislation  protecting  any  interest 
the  United  States  held  in  the  great  territory. 

There  were  Congressmen  and  Senators,  who, 
from  time  to  time,  made  efforts  to  second  the 
work  of  Jefferson.  Floyd,  of  Virginia,  as  early 
as  1820,  made  an  eloquent  plea  fo  *  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  territory  and  a  formal  recognition  of 
uur  rights  as  rulers.  In  1824  a  bill  passed  the 
lower  house  of  Congress  embodying  the  idea  of 
Floyd  stated  four  years  previously,  but  upon 
reaching  the  Senate  it  fell  on  dull  ears.  When  the 
question  was  before  the  Senate  in  1828,  renewing 
the  treaty  of  1818  with  England,  Floyd  again 
attempted  to  have  a  bill  passed  to  give  land  to 
actual  settlers  who  would  emigrate  to  Oregon, 
and  as  usual,  failed. 

In  February,  1838,  Senator  Linn,  of  Missouri, 
always  the  friend  of  Oregon,  introduced  a  bill 
with  the  main  features  of  the  House  bill  which 
passed  that  body  in  1824,  but  again  failed  in  the 


40 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Senate.  The  Government,  however,  was  moved 
to  send  a  special  commissioner  to  Oregon  to  dis- 
cover its  real  conditions  and  report.  But  noth- 
ing practical  resulted. 

It  is  not  a  pleasant  thing  to  turn  the  pages  of 
history  made  by  American  statesmen  durijig  the 
first  third  of  the  century,  and  even  nearly  to  the 
end  of  its  first  half.  There  is  a  lack  of  wisdom 
and  foresight  and  broad-mindedness,  which 
shatters  our  ideals  of  the  mental  grandeur  of 
the  builders  of  the  Republic. 

Diplomatically  they  had  laid  strong  claim  to 
the  now  known  grand  country  beyond  "  the  Stony 
Mountains."  They  had  never  lost  an  opportun- 
ity by  treaty  to  hold  their  interests;  and  yet  from 
year  to  year  and  from  decade  to  decade,  they 
had  seen  a  foreign  power,  led  by  a  great  corpora- 
tion, ruling  all  the  territory  with  a  mailed  hand. 
While  they  made  but  feeble  protest  in  the  way 
we  have  mentioned,  they  did  even  worse,  they 
turned  their  shafts  of  oratory  and  wit  and  de- 
nunciation loose  against  the  country  itself  and 
all  its  interests. 

Turn  for  a  brief  review  of  the  political  record 
of  that  period.  Among  the  ablest  men  oi  that 
day  was  Senator  Benton.  He,  in  his  speech  of 
1825,  said,  that  "  The  ridge  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains may  be  named  as  a  convenient,  natural 
and  everlasting  boundrry.  Along  this  ridge  the 
western  limits  of  the  Republic  should  be  drawn, 


1 


in,     A    A.V^    \  1- 


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:.  U     If     .-C       T    y  i^       /.I     .  *1         >* 


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Mk\\:my\  AriAi/:iij<>j  nin  '.in a  '^i^-./i^-.jf'.i'.u-i  i\cmkH^  n'n 


T  -..ifi 


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MAP  SHOWING  OREGON  IN  1842,  WHITMAN'S  RIDE,  THE  RETURN  TRIP  TO  OREGON.  THE  S 


N  TRIP  TO  OREGON.  THE  SPANISH  POSSESSIONS  AND  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE. 


% 


11 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   ORL       \. 


41 


and  the  statue  of  the  fabled  God  Terminus 
should  be  erected  on  its  highest  peak,  never  to 
be  thrown  down."  In  quoting  Senator  Benton 
of  1825,  it  is  always  but  fair  to  say  he  had  long 
before  the  day  of  Whitman's  arrival  in  Washing- 
ton, greatly  modified  his  views. 

But  Senators  equally  intelligent  and  influen- 
tial— such  as  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  as  late 
as  1844,  quoted  this  sentence  from  Benton  and 
commended  its  wisdom  and  statesmanship.  It 
was  in  this  discussion  and  while  the  treaty 
adopted  in  1846  was  being  considered,  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson  is  on  record  as  saying,  that,  "  Our 
safety  lay  in  a  compact  government." 

One  of  the  remarkable  speeches  in  the 
discussion  of  the  Ashburton-Webster  Treaty  was 
that  made  by  Senator  McDuffie.  Nothing  could 
better  show  the  educating  power  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company  in  the  United  States,  and  the  ig- 
norance of  our  statesmen,  as  to  the  extent  and 
value  of  the  territory. 

McDuffie  said:  "  What  is  the  character  of  this 
country?"  (referring  to  Oregon)  "  As  I  under- 
stand it  there  are  seven  hundred  miles  this  side 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  that  is  unhabitable; 
where  rain  never  falls;  mountains  wholly  impass- 
able, except  through  gaps  and  depressions,  to  be 
reached  only  by  going  hundreds  of  miles  out  of 
the  direct  course.  Well,  now,  what  are  you 
going  to  do  in  such  a  case?     How  are  you  going 


;  •    ; 


n 


42 


now   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


I 


to  apply  steam?  Have  you  made  an  estimate  of 
the  cost  of  a  railroad  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colum- 
bia? Why  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  would  be  in- 
sufficient. Of  what  use  would  it  be  for  agricul- 
tural purposes?  I  would  not,  for  that  purpose, 
give  a  pinch  of  snuff  for  the  whole  territory.  I 
wish  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  an  impassable 
barrier.  If  there  was  an  embankment  of  even 
five  feet  to  be  removed  I  would  not  consent  to 
expend  five  dollars  to  remove  it  and  enable  our 
population  to  go  there.  I  thank  God  for  his 
mercy  in  placing  the  Rocky  Mountains  there." 

Will  the  reader  please  take  notice  that  the 
speech  was  delivered  on  the  25th  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1843,  J^i''^  about  the  time  that  Whitman,  in 
the  ever  memorable  ride,  was  floundering  through 
the  snow  drifts  of  the  Wasatch  and  Uintah 
mountains,  deserted  by  his  guide  and  surrounded 
by  discouragements  that  would  have  appalled 
any  man  not  inspired  by  heroic  purpose. 

It  was  at  this  same  session  of  1843,  prior  to 
the  visit  of  Whitman,  that  Linn  of  Missouri,  had 
offered  a  bill  which  made  specific  legal  provis- 
ions for  Oregon  and  he  succeeded  in  passing  the 
bill,  which  went  to  the  House  and  as  usual  was 
defeated.  The  prevailing  idea  was  that  which 
was  expressed  by  General  Jackson  to  President 
Monroe,  and  before  referred  to,  in  which  Jack- 
son says,  "  It  should  be  our  policy  to  concentrate 
our  population  and  confine  our  frontier  to  proper 


now    MARCUS    WHITMAN   SAVED   ORECJON. 


43 


limits  until  our  country,  in  those  limits,  is  filled 
with  a  dense  population.  It  is  the  denseness  of 
our  population  that  gives  strenj^th  and  security 
to  our  frontier,"  That,  "  interminable  desert," 
those  "arid  plains,"  those  "impassable  mountains," 
and  "  the  impossibility  of  a  wagon  road  from  the 
United  States,"  were  the  burdens  of  many 
speeches  from  the  statesmen  of  that  time.  And 
then  they  emphasized  the  whole  with  the  clincher 
that,  after  overcoming  these  terrible  obstacles 
that  intervened,  we  reached  a  land  that  was 
"worthless"  not  even  worth  "a  pinch  of  snuff." 

Senator  Dayton  of  New  Jersey,  in  1844,  in  the 
discussion  of  the  Oregon  boundary  question  said: 
"  With  the  exception  of  land  along  the  Willa- 
mette and  strips  along  other  water  courses,  the 
whole  country  is  as  irreclaimable  and  barren  a 
waste  as  the  Desert  of  Sahara.  Nor  is  this  the 
worst;  the  climate  is  so  unfriendly  to  human  life 
that  the  native  population  has  dwindled  away 
under  the  ravages  of  malaria." 

The  National  Intelligencer,  about  the  same 
date,  republished  from  the  Louisville  Journal 
and  sanctioned  the  sentiments,  as  follows: 

"  Of  all  the  countries  upon  the  face  of  the  earth 
Oregon  is  one  of  the  least  tavored  by  heaven. 
It  is  the  mere  riddlings  of  creation.  It  is  almost 
as  barren  as  Sahara  and  quite  as  unhealthy  as 
the  Campagna  of  Italy.  Russia  has  her  Siberia 
and   England  has  her  Botany  Bay  and  if  the 


:'  y 


44 


now   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OKEGON. 


United  States  should  ever  need  a  country  to 
which  to  banish  her  rogues  and  scoundrels, 
the  utility  of  such  a  region  as  Oregon  would  be 
demonstrated.  Until  then,  we  are  perfectly 
willing  to  leave  this  magnificent  country  to  the 
Indians,  trappers  and  buffalo  hunters  that  roam 
over  its  sand  banks." 

In  furtherance  of  the  Jackson  sentiment  of 
"  a  dense  population,"  Senator  Dayton  said:  "  I 
have  no  faith  in  the  unlimited  extensions  of  this 
government.  We  have  already  conflicting  inter- 
ests, more  than  enough,  and  God  forbid  that  the 
time  should  ever  come  when  a  state  on  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific,  with  its  interests  and  tendencies 
of  trade  all  looking  toward  Asiatic  nations  of  the 
east,  shall  add  its  jarring  claims  to  our  already 
distracted  and  over-burdened  confederacy.  We 
are  nearer  to  the  remote  nations  of  Europe  than 
to  Oregon." 

The  Hudson  Bay  Company  had  done  its  edu- 
cating work  well.  If  they  had  graduated  Amer- 
ican Statesmen  in  a  full  course  of  Hudson  Bay 
training  and  argument  and  literature,  they  could 
not  have  made  them  more  efficient.  Our  states- 
men did  not  doubt  that  the  honest  title  of  the 
property  was  vested  in  the  United  States  ;  for 
they  had  gone  on  from  time  to  time  in  perfect- 
ing this  title ;  yet  they  had  no  idea  of  its  value 
and  seemed  to  hold  it  only  for  diplomatic  pur- 
poses or  for  prospective  barter. 


now    MARCUS    WHITMAN    SAVKD   OREGON. 


45 


The  United  States  had  no  contestant  for  the 
property  except  England,  but  in  1818  she  was 
not  ready  to  make  any  assertion  of  her  rights. 
In  1828  she  still  postponed  making  any  demand 
and  renewed  the  treaty,  well  knowing  that  the 
little  island  many  thousands  of  miles  across  the 
Atlantic,  was  the  supreme  ruler  of  all  the  vast 
territory. 

Again,  when  the  Ashburton  treaty  was  at 
issue,  and  the  question  of  boundary  which  had 
been  for  forty-eight  years  a  bone  of  contention, 
the  government  again  ignored  Oregon,  and  was 
satisfied  with  settling  the  boundaries  between  a 
few  farms  up  in  Maine. 

But  it  requires  no  argument  in  view  of  this 
long  continued  series  of  acts,  to  reach  the  con- 
clusion that  American  interests  in  Oregon  were 
endangered  most  of  all  from  the  apathy  and 
ignorance  of  our  own  statesmen. 

That  loyal  old  pioneer.  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  the 
chief  of  the  Methodist  Mission  in  Oregon,  visited 
Washington  in  1838  and  presented  the  conditions 
of  the  country  and  its  dangers  forcibly.  With 
funds  contributed  by  generous  friends  he  suc- 
ceeded in  taking  back  with  him  quite  a  delega- 
tion of  actual  settlers  for  Oregon.  But  neither 
Congress  nor  the  people  were  aroused. 

For  all  practical  purposes  Oregon  was  treated 
as  a  "foreign  land."  There  was  not  even  a  show  of 
a  protectorate  over  the  few  American  immigrants 


« 


1} 


i^p 


1 1 


1 1 1 


>  \ 


46 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


who  had  gathered  there.  The  "American 
Board, "  which  sent  missionaries  only  to  foreign 
lands,  had  charge  of  the  mission  fields,  and  care- 
fully secured  passports  for  their  missionaries 
before  starting  them  upon  their  long  journey. 
The  Rev.  Myron  Eells  in  his  interesting  volume 
entitled  "Father  Eells,"  gives  a  copy  of  the  pass- 
port issued  to  his  father.     It  records — 

"The  Rev.  Cushing  Eells,  Missionary  and 
Teacher  of  the  American  Board  of  Commission- 
ers for  Foreign  Missions  to  the  tribes  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  having  signified  to  this  depart- 
ment his  desire  to  pass  through  the  Indian  Coun- 
try to  the  Columbia  River,  and  requested  the 
permission  required  by  law  to  enable  him  so  to 
do.  Such  permission  is  hereby  granted  ;  and  he 
is  commended  to  the  friendly  attention  of  civil 
and  military  agents  and  officers  and  of  citizens, 
if  at  any  time  it  shall  be  necessary  to  his  pro- 
tection. Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of 
the  War  Department  this  27th  day  of  February, 
183S.  J.  R.  Poinsett, 

Secretary  of  War. 

It  is  a  truth  so  plain  as  to  need  no  argument, 
that  during  all  these  earlier  years  the  whole 
effort  of  the  fur  traders  had  been  to  deceive  all 
nationalities  as  to  the  value  of  the  Northwestern 
country.  In  their  selfishness  they  had  deceived 
England  as  well  as  America.  Their  idea  and 
hope  was  to  keep  out  emigration.     But  England 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVKD   OREGON. 


47 


A 


had  been  better  informed  than  the  United  States, 
for  the  reason  that  all  the  commerce  was  wholly 
with  England,  and  English  capitalists  who  had 
large  interests  in  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  very 
naturally  were  better  informed,  but  even  they 
were  not  anxious  for  English  colonization  and 
an  interference  with  their  bonanza. 

They  controlled  the  English  press,  ana  so 
late  as  1840  we  read  in  the  "British  and  Foreign 
Review,"  that  "  upon  the  whole,  therefore,  the 
Oregon  country  holds  out  no  great  promise  as  an 
agricultural  field." 

The  London  Examiner  in  1843  wonders  that 
"Ignorant  Americans"  were  "disposed  to  quarrel 
over  a  country,  the  whole  in  dispute  not  being 
worth  to  either  party  twenty  thousand  pounds." 

The  Edinburgh  Review,  generally  fair,  said: 
"Only  a  very  small  portion  of  the  land  is  capable 
of  cultivation.  It  is  a  case  in  which  the  Ameri- 
can people  have  been  misled  as  to  climate  and 
soil.  In  a  few  years  all  that  gives  life  to  the 
country,  both  the  hunter  and  his  prey  will  be 
extinct,  and  their  places  will  be  supplied  by  a 
thin  white  and  half-breed  population  scattered 
alolig  the  fertile  valleys  supported  by  pastures 
instead  of  the  chase,  and  gradually  degenerating 
into  barbarism,  far  more  offensive  than  back- 
woodsmen." Our  English  friends,  it  may  be 
observed,  had  long  had  a  poor  opinion  of  "  back- 
woodsmen." 


it  V 


\,h^ 


t,u.t  t 


m 


48 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


The  Edinburgh  Review,  in  1843,  says:  **  How- 
ever the  political  question  between  England  and 
the  United  States,  as  to  their  claims  on  Oregon 
shall  be  determined,  Oregon  will  never  be  colon- 
ized overland  from  the  United  States.  The 
world  must  assume  r  i  ew  phase  before  the 
American  wagons  make  a  plain  road  to  the 
Columbia  River." 

In  this  educating  work  of  the  English  press, 
we  can  easily  understand  how  public  opinion  was 
molded,  and  how  ourstatesmen  were  misinformed 
and  misdirected.  It  was,  no  doubt,  largely  due  to 
the  shrewd  work  of  the  great  monopoly  in  Ore- 
gon backed  up  by  English  Government.  Its  first 
object  was  to  keep  it  unsettled  as  long  as  possible, 
for  on  that  depended  the  millions  for  the  Hudson 
Bay  Co.'s  treasury,  but  beyond  that,  the  govern- 
ment plainly  depended  upon  the  powerful  organ- 
ization to  hold  all  the  land  as  a  British  posses- 
sion. , 

In  the  war  of  181 2,  one  of  the  first  moves  wasi 
to  dispatch  a  fleet  to  the  Columbia,  with  orders, 
as  the  record  shows,  "to  take  and  destroy  every- 
thing American  on  the  northwest  road." 

The  prosperous  people  of  Oregon,  Washing- 
ton and  Idaho  are  in  a  position  now  to  enjoy 
such  prophetic  fulminations,  but  they  can  easily 
see  the  dangers  that  were  escaped.  It  was  g 
double  danger,  danger  from  abroad  and  at  home, 
and  of  the  later  most  of  all.  The  Nation  had 
been  deceived.     It  must  be  undeceived. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


40 


The  outlook  was  not  hopeful.  The  year 
1843  had  been  ushered  in.  The  long  looked-for 
and  talked-of  treaty  had  been  signed,  and  Ore- 
gon again  ignored.  There  was  scacely  a  shadow 
cast  of  coming  events  to  give  hope  to  the  friends 
of  far-away  Oregon. 

Suppose  some  watchman  from  the  aome  of 
the  Capitol  casting  his  eyes  westward  in  1843, 
could  have  seen  that  little  caravan  winding 
through  valleys  and  over  the  hills  and  hurrying 
eastward,  but  who  would  dream  that  its  leader 
was  "a  man  of  destiny,"  bearing  messages  to  a 
nation  soon  to  be  aroused?  of  how  little  or  how 
much  importance  was  this  messenger  or  his  mes- 
sage, turn  to  "The  Ride  to  Save  Oregon"  and 
judge.  But  certain  it  is,  a  great  change,  border- 
ing on  revolution,  was  portending. 


iW^ 


im. 


.1 

1  .s< 


.-m 


m 


5, 


CHAPTER  III 


THE    ROMANCE    OF   THE    OREGON    MISSION. 


Ihese  pages  are  mainly  designed  to  show  in 
brief  the  historical  and  political  environments  of 
Oregon  in  pioneer  days,  and  the  patriotic  ser- 
vices rendered  the  nation  by  Dr.  Marcus  Whit- 
man. But  to  attempt  to  picture  this  life  and 
omit  the  missionary,  would  be  like  reciting  the 
play  of  Hamlet  and  omitting  Hamlet. 

f  he  mission  work  to  the  Oregon  Indians  be- 
gan in  a  romance  and  ended  in  a  great  tragedy. 
The  city  of  St.  Louis  in  that  day  was  so  near  the 
border  of  civilization  that  it  was  accustomed  to 
see  much  of  the  rugged  and  wild  life  of  the 
plains;  yet  in  1832  the  people  beheld  even  to 
them  the  odd  sight  of  four  Flat-head  Indians  in 
Indian  dress  and  equipment  parading  their  prin- 
cipal streets. 

General  Clarke,  who  commanded  the  military 
post  of  that  city  was  promptly  notified  and  took 
the  strangers  in  charge.    He  had  been  an  Indian 

50 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


51 


commissioner  for  many  years  in  the  far  West, 
knew  of  the  tribe  well  and  could  easily  commu- 
nicate with  them.  With  it  all  he  was  a  good 
friend  to  the  Indians  and  at  once  made  arrange- 
ments at  the  fort  to  make  them  comfortable. 
They  informed  him  that  they  were  all  chiefs  of 
the  tribe  and  had  spent  the  entire  Summer  and 
Fall  upon  their  long  journey.  Their  wearied 
manner  and  wasted  appearance  told  the  fact 
impressively,  even  had  the  general  not  known 
the  locality  where  they  belonged. 

For  a  while  they  were  reticent  regarding 
their  mission,  as  is  usual  with  Indians;  but  in 
due  time  their  story  was  fully  revealed.  They 
had  heard  of  "  The  White  Man's  Book  of  Life," 
and  had  come  "to  hunt  for  it"  and  "to  ask  for 
teachers  to  be  sent "  to  their  tribe. 

To  Gen.  Clarke  this  was  a  novel  proposition 
to  come  in  that  way  from  wild  Indians.  General 
Clarke  was  a  devoted  Catholic  and  treated  his 
guests  as  a  humane  and  hospitable  man.  After 
they  were  rest€|d;up'  he  fjiloted  them  to  every 
place  which  "he  thought  wduld  entertain  and  in- 
terest them.  FrequenJ;'  visits  were  made  to 
Catholic  Ch^ufches,  ar'd  to  theatres  and  shows 
of  every  "kind.*  And  So*  tlbey  spent  the  balance 
of  the  Winter. 

During  this  time,  two  of  the  Indians,  from 
the  long  journey  and  possibly  from  over-eating 
rich   food,   to   which  they  were  unaccustomed, 


¥   i 


52 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


were  taken  sick  and  died,  and  were  given  hon- 
ored burial  by  the  soldiers.  When  the  early 
Spring  sun  began  to  shine,  the  two  ren^aining In- 
dians commenced  their  preparations  for  return 
home. 

General  Clarke  proposed  to  give  them  a  ban- 
quet upon  the  last  evening  of  their  sojourn,  and 
start  them  upon  their  way  loaded  with  all  the 
comforts  he  could  give.  At  this  banquet  one  of 
the  Indians  made  a  speech.  It  was  that  speech, 
brimming  over  with  Indian  eloquence,  which 
fired  the  Christian  hearts  of  the  Nation  into  a 
new  life.  The  speech  was  translated  into  Eng- 
lish and  thus  doubtless  loses  much  of  its  charm. 

The  chief  said,  "I  come  to  you  over  the  trail 
of  many  moons  from  the  setting  sun.  You  were 
the  friends  of  my  fathers,  who  have  all  gone  the 
long  way.  I  came  with  an  eye  partly  open  for 
my  people,  who  sit  in  darkness.  I  go  back  with 
both  eyes  closed.  How  can  I  go  back  blind,  to 
my  blind  people?  I  made  my  way  to  you  with 
strong  arms  through  many  enemies  and  strange 
lands  that  I  might  carry  back  much  to  them.  I 
go  back  with  both  .arms,  broken  and  empty. 
Two  fathers  came -with  u^,  they  were  the  braves 
of  many  winters  and'  wars,  '  We  leave  them 
asleep  here  by  your  great  water  and  wigwams. 
They  were  tired  in  many  moons  and  their  moc- 
casins wore  out. 

"  My  people  sent  me  to  get  the  White  Man's 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


53 


Book  ot  Heaven.  You  took  me  to  where  you 
allow  your  women  to  dance  as  we  do  not 
ours,  and  the  book  was  not  there.  You  took 
me  to  where  they  worship  the  great  Spirit  Avith 
candles  and  the  book  was  not  there.  You 
showed  me  images  of  the  good  spirits  and  the 
pictures  of  the  good  land  beyond,  but  the  book 
was  not  among  them  to  tell  us  the  way.  I  am 
going  back  the  long  and  sad  trail  to  my  people 
in  the  dark  land.  You  make  my  feet  heavy  with 
gifts  and  my  moccasins  will  grow  old  in  carrying 
them,  yet  the  book  is  not  among  them.  When 
I  tell  my  poor  blind  people  after  one  more  snow, 
in  the  big  council,  that  I  did  not  bring  the  book, 
no  word  will  be  spoken  by  our  old  men  or  by 
our  young  braves.  One  by  one  they  will  rise  up 
and  go  out  in  silence.  My  people  will  die  in 
darkness,  and  they  will  go  on  a  long  path  to 
other  hunting  grounds.  No  white  man  will  go 
with  them,  and  no  White  Man's  Book  to  make 
the  way  plain.     I  have  no  more  words." 

When  this  speech  was  translated  and  sent 
East  it  was  published  in  the  Christian  Advocate 
in  March,  1833,  with  a  ringing  editorial  from 
President  Fisk  of  Wilbraham  College.  "  Who 
will  respond  to  go  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  carry  the  Book  of  Heaven"?  It  made  a 
profound  impression.  It  was  a  Macedonian  cry 
of  **  Come  over  and  help  us,"  not  to  h^.  resisted. 
Old  men  and  women  who  read  this  call,  and 


h  >. 


iji 


'* ' 


n. 


54 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


attended  the  meetings  at  that  time,  are  still  liv- 
ing, and  can  attest  to  its  power.  It  stirred  the 
church  as  it  has  seldom  been  stirred  into  activity. 

This  incident  of  the  appearance  in  St  Louis 
and  demand  of  the  four  Flathead  Indians  has 
been  so  fully  verified  in  history  as  to  need  no 
additional  proof  to  silence  modern  sceptics 
who  have  ridiculed  it.  All  the  earlier  histories 
such  as  "Gray's  History  of  Oregon,"  ''Reed's 
Mission  of  the  Methodist  Church,"  Governor 
Simpson's  narrative,  Barrow's  "Oregon,"  Park- 
man's  "Oregon  Trail,"  with  the  correspondence 
of  the  Lees,  verified  the  truth  of  the  occurrence. 

Bancroft,  in  his  thirty-eight  volume  history, 
in  volume  i,  page  579,  says,  "Hearing  of  the 
Christians  and  how  heaven  favors  them,  four 
Flathead  Indian  Chiefs,  in  1832,  went  to  St. 
Louis  and  asked  for  teachers,"  etc.  As  this  lat- 
ter testimony  is  from  a  source  which  discredited 
Missionary  work,  as  we  shall  show  in  another 
chapter,  it  is  good  testimony  upon  the  point. 
Some  modern  doubters  have  also  ridiculed  the 
speech  reported  to  have  been  made  by  the  Indian 
chief.  Those  who  know  Indians  best  will  bear 
testimony  to  its  genuineness.   , 

Almost  every  tribe  of  Indians  has  its  orator 
and  story-teller,  and  some  of  them  as  famous  in 
their  way  as  the  Beechers  and  Phillipses  and 
Depews,  among  the  whites,  or  the  Douglasses 
and  Langstons  among  the  negroes. 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


55 


In  185 1  the  writer  of  this  book  was  purser 
upon  the  steamer  Lot  Whitcomb,  which  ran  be- 
tween Milwaukee  and  Astoria,  Oregon.  One 
beautiful  morning  I  wandered  a  mile  or  more 
down  the  beach  and  was  seated  upon  the  sand, 
watching  the  great  combers  as  thev  rolled  in 
from  the  Pacific,  which,  after  a  storm,  is  an  es- 
pecially grand  sight;  when  suddenly,  as  if  he  had 
arisen  from  the  ground,  an  Indian  appeared 
near  by  and  accosted  me.  He  was  a  fine  speci- 
men of  a  savage,  clean  and  well  dressed.  He 
evidently  knew  who  I  was  and  my  position  on 
the  steamer  and  had  followed  me  to  make  his 
plea.  With  a  toss  of  his  arm  and  a  motion  of 
his  body  he  threw  the  fold  of  his  blanket  across 
his  left  shoulder  as  gracefully  as  a  Roman  Sena- 
tor could  have  done,  and  began  his  speech. 
"  Hy-in  hyas  kloshe  Boston,  Boston  hy-in  steam- 
boat hy-in  cuitan.  Indian  halo  steam-boat,  halo 
cuitan."  It  was  a  rare  mixture  of  English  words 
with  the  Chinook,  which  I  easily  understood. 

The  burthen  of  his  speech  was  the  greatness 
and  richness  and  goodness  of  white  men;  (they 
called  all  white  men  Boston  men) ;  they  owned 
all  the  steam-boats  and  horses;  that  the  Indians 
were  very  poor;  that  his  squaw  and  pappoose 
were  away  up  the  Willamette  river,  so  far  away 
that  his  moccasins  would  be  worn  out  before  he 
could  reach  their  wigwam;  that  he  had  no  money 
and  wanted  to  ride. 


i   'A 


66 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


I  have  heard  the  great  orators  of  the  na- 
tion in  the  pulpit  and  halls  of  legislation,  but  I 
never  listened  to  a  more  eloquent  plea,  or  saw 
gestures  more  graceful  than  were  those  of  that 
wild  Wasco  Indian,  of  which  I  alone  was  the 
audience. 

Another  interesting  historical  scrap  of  the 
romantic  history  of  these  Flathead  chiefs  is  fur- 
nished in  the  fact  that  the  celebrated  Indian 
artist,  George  Catlin,  was  on  one  of  his  tours  in 
the  west  taking  sketches  in  the  spring  of  1833. 
Soon  after  their  leaving  St.  Louis  he  dropped  in 
with  the  two  Indians  on  their  return  journey 
and  travelled  with  them  for  some  days,  taking 
pictures  of  both,  and  they  are  now  numbers  207 
and,  ?o8  in  his  great  collection. 

Upon  his  return  east  he  read  the  Indian 
speech,  and  01  the  excitement  it  had  caused, 
and  not  having  been  told  by  the  Indians  of  the 
cause  of  their  journey,  and  wishing  to  be  assured 
that  he  had  accidentally  struck  a  great  historic 
prize  in  securing  the  pictures,  he  sat  down  and 
wrote  General  Clarke  at  St.  Louis,  asking  him 
if  the  speech  was  true  and  the  story  correct. 
General  Clarke  promptly  replied  "The  story  is 
true;  that  was  the  only  object  of  their  visit." 
Taken  in  connection  with  the  after  history,  no 
two  pictures  in  any  collection  have  a  deeper 
or  grander  significance. 

We  may  add  here  that  within  a  month  after 


i 


CO  O 

S  .S 

o  Z 

u  S 

2  _ 

uj  lA 

B 


^ 


HOW   MAKCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OKLGO... 


57 


leavinjj  St.  Louis,  one  of  the  Indians  was  taken 
sick  and  died,  and  but  one  reached  his  home  in 
safety. 

When  I  reached  Oreyfon  in  1850,  the  first 
tribe  of  In  iians  I  visited  in  their  home  was  the 
Flatheads.  But  whether  the  story  is  true  in  all 
its  minutiae  or  not,  it  matters  but  little.  It  was 
believed  true,  and  produced  grand  results.  It 
can  hardly  be  said,  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
Christian  missionary,  that  the  work  in  Oregon 
was  a  grand  success.  And  yet,  never  were  mis- 
sionaries more  heroic,  or  that  labored  in  any 
field  with  greater  fidelity  for  the  true  interests 
of  the  Indian  savages  to  whom  they  were  sent. 

They  were  great,  warm-hearted,  intelligent, 
educated,  earnest  men  and  women,  who  endured 
privation,  isolation  and  discomfort  with  cheer- 
fulness, that  they  might  teach  Christianity  and 
save  souls.  There  was  no  failure  from  any  in- 
competency of  the  teachers,  but  from  complica- 
tions and  surroundings  hopelessly  beyond  their 
power  to  change. 

They  brought  with  them  over  their  long, 
weary  journey  the  Bible,  Christianity  and  civil- 
ization, and  the  school.  They  were  met  at  first 
with  a  cordial  reception  by  the  Indians,  but  a 
great  corporation,  dependent  upon  the  steel  trap 
and  continuous  savage  life,  soon  showed  its  hand. 
It  was  a  foreign  un-American  opposition.  It 
had  met  every  American  company  that  had  at- 


58 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


tempted  to  share  in  the  I  usiness  promoted  by 
savage  life,  and  routed  them.  The  missionaries 
were  wide  awake  men  and  were  quick  to  see  the 
drift  of  affairs. 

Dr.  Whitman  early  foresaw  what  was  to  hap- 
pen. He  saw  the  possibilities  of  the  country  and 
that  the  first  battle  was  between  the  school- 
house  and  civilization,  and  the  tepee  and  sa- 
vagery. He  resolved  to  do  everything  possible 
for  the  Indian  before  it  began.  In  a  letter  to  his 
father-in-law,  dated  May  i6,  1844,  from  Waiilat- 
pui,  he  says: 

'  It  does  not  concern  me  so  much  what  is  to 
become  of  any  particular  set  of  Indians,  as  to 
give  them  the  offer  of  salvation  through  the 
Gospel,  and  the  opportunity  of  civilization,  and 
then  I  am  content  to  do  good  to  all  men  as  I 
have  opportunity.  I  have  no  doubt  our  greatest 
work  is  to  be  to  aid  the  white  settlement  of  this 
country  and  help  to  foupd  its  religious  institu- 
tions. Providence  has  its  full  share  in  all  those 
events.  Although  the  Indians  have  made,  and  are 
making  rapid  advance  in  religious  knowledge 
and  civilizat'on,  yet  it  cannot  be  hoped  that  time 
will  be  allow*, !  to  mature  the  work  of  Christiani- 
zation  or  civilization  before  white  settlers  will  de- 
mand the  soil  and  the  removal  both  of  the  In- 
dians and  the  Missions." 

"  What  Americans  desire  of  this  kind  they 
always  effect,  and  it  is  useless  to  oppose  or  desire 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


59 


it  otherwise.  To  guide  as  far  as  can  be  done, 
and  direct  these  tendencies  for  the  best,  is  evi- 
dently the  part  of  wisdom.  Indeed  I  am  fully 
convinced  that  when  people  refuse  or  neglect  to 
fill  the  design  of  Providence,  they  ought  not 
to  complain  at  the  results,  and  so  it  is  equally 
useless  for  Christians  to  be  over-anxious  on 
their  account." 

"The  Indians  have  in  no  case  obeyed  the  com- 
mand to  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,  and 
they  can  not  stand  in  the  way  of  others  doing  so. 
A  place  will  be  left  them  to  do  this  as  fully  as 
their  ability  to  obey  will  permit,  and  the  more  we 
do  for  them  the  more  fully  will  this  be  realized. 
No  exclusiveness  can  be  asked  for  any  portion 
of  the  human  family.  The  exercise  of  his  rights 
are  all  that  can  be  desired.  In  order  for  this  to 
be  understood  to  its  proper  extent,  in  regard 
to  the  Indians,  it  is  necessary  that  they  seek  to 
preserve  their  rights  by  peaceable  means  only. 
Any  violation  of  this  rule  will  be  visited  with  only 
evil  results  to  themselves." 

This  letter  from  Dr.  Whitman  to  nis  wife's 
father,  dated  about  seven  months  after  his  re- 
turn from  his  memorable  "Ride  to  Save  Ore- 
gon," is  for  the  first  time  made  public  in  the 
published  transactions  of  the  State  Historical 
Society  of  Oregon  in  1893.  It  is  important  from 
the  fact  that  it  gives  a  complete  key  to  the  life 
and  acts  of  this  silent  man  and  his  motives  for 


:f^^ 


?       ^ 


■^.ri 


60 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


the  part  he  took  in  the  great  historic  drama,  in 
which  the  statesmen  of  the  two  nations  were  to 
be  the  actors,  with  millions  of  people  the  inter- 
ested audience. 

In  another  plat.e  we  will  show  how  Whitman 
has  been  misrepresented  by  modern  historians, 
and  an  attempt  made  to  deprive  him  of  all 
honor,  and  call  attention  to  the  above  record,  all 
the  more  valuable  because  never  intended  for 
the  public  eye  when  written. 

In  the  same  letter  Whitman  says,  "  As  I  hold 
the  settlement  of  this  country  by  Americans, 
rather  than  by  English  colonists,  most  important, 
I  am  happy  to  have  been  the  means  of  landing 
so  large  an  immigration  on  the  shores  of  the 
Columbia  with  their  wagons,  families  and  stock, 
all  in  safety." 

Such  sentiments  reveal  only  the  broad- 
minded,  far-seeing  Christian  man,  who,  though 
many  thousand  miles  away  from  its  protecting 
influence,  still  loved  "The  banner  of  beauty  and 
glory."  He  had  gone  to  Oregon  with  only  a  de- 
sire to  teach  savages  Christianity;  but  saw  in  the 
near  future  the  inevitable,  and  without  lessening 
his  interest  in  his  savag^e  pupils,  he  entered  the 
broader  field. 

Who  can  doubt  that  both  were  calls  from  a 
power  higher  than  man?  Or  who  can  point  to 
an  instance  upon  historic  pages  where  the  great 
work    assigned    was     prosecuted   with    greater 


II 


:  ! 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


61 


fidelity?  Having  accomplished  a  leat  unpar- 
alleled for  its  heroism  and  without  a  break  in 
its  grand  success,  he  makes  no  report  of  it  to 
any  state  or  national  organization,  but  while  he 
talked  freely  with  his  friends  of  his  work  it  is 
only  now,  after  he  has  rested  in  his  martyr's 
grave  for  forty-seven  and  more  years,  that  this 
modest  letter  written  to  his  wife's  father  at  the 
time,  strongly  reveals  his  motives. 

Having  accomplished  his  great  undertaking, 
he  was  still  the  missionary  and  friend  of  the 
Indians,  and  at  once  dropped  back  to  his  work, 
and  the  drudgery  of  his  Indian  mission. 

Again  we  find  him  enlarging  his  field  of 
work,  teaching  his  savage  friends  not  only 
Christianity,  but  how  to  sow,  and  plant,  and  reap, 
and  build  houses,  and  prepare  for  civilization. 
He  took  no  part  in  the  new  political  life  which 
he  had  made  possible.  He  was  a  stranger  to  all 
things  except  those  which  concerned  the  work 
he  was  called  to  do.  In  his  letter  he  speaks  of 
earnestly  desiring  to  return  East  and  bring  out 
the  second  company  of  immigrants  the  coming 
Spring,  but  the  needs  of  his  mission,  his  wasted 
fields,  and  his  mill  burned  during  his  absence, 
seemed  to  demand  his  presence  at  home. 

The  world  speaks  of  this  event  and  that,  as 
"  It  so  happened."  They  will  refer  to  the  advent 
of  the  Flathead  Indians  in  St.  Louis  in  1832,  as 
"It  so  happened."     The  more  thoughtful  read- 


! 


I*ii 


62 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


ers  of  history  find  fewer  things  "accidental." 
In  this  great  historic  romance  the  Flathead  In- 
dians were  not  an  accident.  The  American 
Board,  the  Methodist  Board,  Dr.  Whitman  and 
Jason  Lee,  and  their  co-workers,  were  not  acci- 
dents. They  were  all  men  inspired  to  a  specific 
work,  and  having  entered  upon  it,  the  field 
widened  into  dimensions  of  unforeseen  grandeur, 
whose  benefits  the  Nation  has  never  yet  befit- 
tingly  acknowledged. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


THE   WEDDING  JOURNEY  ACROSS   THE    PLAINS. 


The  Romance  of  the  Oregon  Mission  did  not 
end  with  the  call  of  the  Flathead  Indians.  This 
was  savage  romance,  that  of  civilization  fol- 
lowed. 

The  Methodists  sent  the  Lees  in  1834,  and 
the  American  Board  tried  to  get  the  right  men 
for  the  work  to  accompany  them,  but  failed. 
But  in  1S35  they  sent  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  and 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  to  Oregon  upon  a  trip 
of  discovery,  to  find  out  the  real  conditions, 
present  and  prospective. 

They  got  an  early  start  m  1835  and  reached 
Green  River,  where  they  met  large  bodies  of 
Indians  and  Indian  traders,  and  were  made  fully 
acquainted  with  the  situation.  The  Indians  gave 
large  promises,  and  the  field  seemed  wide  and 
inviting.  Upon  consultation  it  was  agreed  that 
Dr.  Whitman  should  return  to  the  States  and 
report  to  the  American  Board,  while  Dr.  Parker 
should  go   on   to  the  Columbia.    Two   Indian 

63 


"T| 


t 


n   |1 


I      I 


M! 


m 


fi>  ;  i' 


64 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


boys  from  the  Pacific  Coast,  Richard  and  John, 
volunteered  to  return  with  Dr.  Whitman  and 
come  back  with  him  the  following  year. 

The  Doctor  and  his  Indian  boys  reached  his 
home  in  Rushville,  New  York,  late  on  Saturday 
night  in  November,  and  not  making  known  the 
event  to  his  family,  astonished  the  congregation 
in  his  church  by  walking  up  the  aisle  with  his 
Indians,  and  calling  out  an  audible  exclamation 
from  his  good  old  mother,  "  Well,  there  is  Mar- 
cus Whitman." 

Upon  the  report  of  Dr.  Whitman  the  Ameri- 
can Board  resolved  to  at  once  occupy  the  field. 
Dr.  Whitman  had  long  been  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Narcissa  Prentice,  the  daughter  of 
Judge  Prentice  of  Prattsburg,  New  York,  who 
was  as  much  of  an  enthusiast  in  the  Oregon  In- 
dian Mission  work  as  the  Doctor  himself.  The 
American  Board  thought  it  unwise  to  send  the 
young  couple  alone  on  so  distant  a  journey,  and 
at  once  began  the  search  for  company.  The 
wedding  day,  which  had  been  fixed  was  post- 
poned, and  valuable  time  was  passing,  and  no 
suitable  parties  would  volunteer  for  the  work, 
when  its  trials  and  dangers  were  explained. 

The  Board  had  received  word  that  the  Rev. 
H.  H.  Spalding,  who  had  recently  married, 
was  then  with  his  wife  on  his  way  to  the  Osage 
Mission  to  enter  upon  a  new  field  of  work.  It 
was  in  January  and  Whitman  took  to  the  road 


. 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


65 


in  his  sleigh  in  pursuit  of  the  traveling  Mission- 
aries. He  overtook  them  near  the  village  of 
HuHion  and  hailed  them  in  his  cheery  way: 

'Ship  ahoy,  you  are  wanted  for  the  Oregon 
Mission." 

After  a  short  colloquy  they  drove  on  to  the 
hotel  of  the  little  village.  There  the  subject  was 
canvassed  and  none  of  its  dangers  hidden.  Mr. 
Spalding  promptly  made  up  his  mind  and  said: 

"  My  dear,  I  do  not  think  it  your  duty  to  go, 
but  we  will  leave  it  to  you  after  we  have 
prayed." 

Mrs.  Spalding  asKed  to  be  left  alone,  and  in 
ten  minutes  she  appeared  with  a  beaming  face 
and  said,  "I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  go." 

"But  your  health,  my  dear?" 

"I  like  the  command  just  as  it  stands,"  says 
Mrs.  Spalding,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel,  with  no  exceptions  for  poor 
health." 

•  Others  referred  to  the  hardships  and  dangers 
and  terrors  of  the  journey,  but  Dr.  Spalding 
says  "  They  all  did  not  move  her  an  iota." 

Such  was  the  party  for  the  wedding  journey. 
It  did  look  like  a  dangerous  journey  for  a  woman 
who  had  been  many  months  an  invalid,  but 
events  proved  Mrs.  Spalding  a  real  heroine, 
with  a  courage  and  pluck  scarcely  equalled,  and 
under  the  circumstances  never  excelled.  Having 
turned  her  face  toward  Oregon  she  never  looked 

6 


In-M 


66 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


back  and  never  was  heard  to  murmur  or  regret 
her  decision. 

This  difficrlty  be  ng  removed,  the  day  was 
again  set  for  tr  »^  ^  riage  of  Dr.  Whitman  and 
Miss  Prentice  v  .u< !;  ook  place  in  February, 
1836.  All  authori.-ies  rr;.i  k  Marcissa  Prentice  as 
a  woman  of  great  force  of  character. 

She  was  the  adored  daughter  of  a  refined 
Christian  home  and  had  the  love  of  a  wide  circle 
of  friends.  She  wis  the  soprano  singer  in  the 
choir  of  the  village  church  of  which  she  and  her 
family  were  members. 

In  the  volume  of  the  magazine  of  American 
History  for  1884,  the  editor,  the  late  Miss  Martha 
J.  Lamb,  says: 

"The  voice  of  Miss  Prentice  was  of  remark- 
able sweetness.  She  was  a  graceful  blonde, 
stately  and  dignified  in  her  bearing,  without  a 
particle  of  affectation."  Says  Miss  Lamb: 
"When  preparing  to  leave  for  Oregon  the  church 
held  a  farewell  service  and  the  minister  gave  out 
the  well-known  hymn: 

"  Yes,  my  native  land  I  love  thee, 

All  thy  scenes  I  love  them  well; 
Friends,  connection,  happy  country, 
Can  I  bid  you  all  farewell." 

The  whole  congregation  joined  heartily  in  the 
singing,  but  before  the  hymn  was  half  through, 
one  by  one  they  ceased  singing  and  audible  sobs 
were  heard  in  every  part  of  the  great  audience. 


1 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


67 


The  last  stanza  was  sung  by  the  sweet  voice  of 
Mrs.  Whitman  alone,  clear,  musical  and  unwav- 
ering." 

One  of  the  pleasant  things  since  it  was 
announced  that  these  sketches  would  be  written, 
is  the  number  of  people,  that  before  were 
unknown,  who  have  volunteered  charm-  ,*^  "per- 
sonal sketches  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman. 

A  venerable  friend  who  often,  lu  fears, 
attended  church  more  for  the  son^s  ot  Miss 
Prentice  than  for  the  sermons,  was  a^o  at  their 
wedding.  The  venerable  J.  S.  Seeley,  f  Aurora, 
Illinois,  writes:  "It  was  just  fifty-nine  years  ago 
this  March  since  I  drove  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman 
from  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  to  Hollidaysburg,  Pa.,  in  my 
sleigh.  This  place  was  at  the  foot  of  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains  (east  side)  on  the  Pennsylva- 
nia Canal.  The  canal  boats  were  built  in  two 
sections  and  were  taken  over  the  mountains  on 
a  railroad." 

"They  expected  to  find  the  canal  open  on  the 
west  side  and  thus  reach  the  Ohio  river  on  the 
way  to  Oregon.  I  was  with  them  some  seven 
days.  Dr.  Whitman  impressed  me  as  a  man  of 
strong  sterling  character  and  lots  of  push,  but 
he  was  not  a  great  talker.  Mrs.  Whitman  was 
of  medium  size  and  impressed  me  as  a  woman 
of  great  resolution." 

A  younger  sister  of  the  bride,  Mrs.  H.  P.  Jack- 
son, of  Oberlin,  Ohio,  writes:  "Mrs.Whitman  was 


r  y 


68 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


the  mentor  of  her  younger  sisters  in  the  home. 
She  joined  the  church  when  eleven  years  old, 
and  from  her  early  years  expressed  a  desire  to 
be  a  missionary.  The  wedding  occurred  in  the 
church  at  Angelica,  N.  Y.,  to  which  place  my 
father  had  removed,  and  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed by  the  Rev.  Everett  Hull.  I  recollect 
how  deeply  interested  the  two  Indian  boys  were 
in  the  ceremony,  and  how  their  faces  brightened 
when  the  Doctor  told  them  that  Mrs.  Whitman 
would  go  back  with  them  to  Oregon.  We  all 
had  the  greatest  faith  and  trust  in  Dr.  Whitman, 
and  in  all  our  letters  from  our  dear  sister  there 
was  never  a  word  of  regret  or  repining  at  the 
life  she  had  chosen." 

The  two  Indian  boys  were  placed  in  school 
and  learned  to  read  and  speak  English  during 
the  Winter. 

The  journey  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Missouri  Rivers  was  tedious,  but  un- 
eventful. 

Those  who  navigated  the  Missouri  River  fifty 
years  ago,  have  not  forgotten  its  snags  and  sand 
bars,  which  caused  a  constant  chattering  of  the 
bells  in  the  engineer's  room  from  morning  un- 
til evening,  and  all  through  the  night,  unless  the 
prudent  captain  tied  up  to  the  shore.  The  man 
and  his  "lead  line"  was  constantly  on  the  prow 
singing  out  "twelve  feet,"  "quarter  past  twain," 
then  suddenly  "six  feet,"  when  the  bells  would 


HOW  MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OKICUON. 


69 


ring  out  as  the  boat's  nose  would  bury  in  the 
concealed  sandbar. 

But  the  party  safely  reached  its  destination, 
and  was  landed  with  all  its  effects,  wagons, 
stock  and  outfit. 

The  company  was  made  up  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Whitman,  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spalding,  II.  H. 
Gray,  two  teamsters  and  the  two  Indian  boys. 

The  American  Fur  Company,  which  was  send- 
ing out  a  convoy  to  their  port  in  Oregon,  had 
promised  to  start  from  Council  Bluffs  ujjon  a 
given  date,  and  make  them  welcome  members 
of  the  company.  It  was  a  large  company  made 
up  of  two  hundred  men  and  six  hundred  ani- 
mals. On  the  journey  in  from  Oregon,  in  1835, 
cholera  had  attacked  the  company,  and  Dr. 
Whitman  had  rendered  such  faithful  and  effi- 
cient service  that  they  felt  under  obligations  to 
him.  "But  they  had  heard  there  were  to  be  women 
along  and  the  old  mountaineers  did  not  want  to 
be  bothered  with  women  upon  such  a  journey, 
and  they  moved  out  promptly  without  waiting 
for  the  Doctor's  party,  which  had  been  delayed. 

When  Dr.  Whitman  reached  Council  Bluffs 
and  found  them  gone,  he  was  greatly  disturbed. 
There  was  nothing  to  do  but  make  forced 
marches  and  catch  the  train  before  it  reached 
the  more  dangerous  Indian  country.  Dr.  Spald- 
ing would  have  liked  to  have  found  it  an  excuse  to 
return  home,  but  Mrs.   Spalding   remarked,  "I 


m 


ID 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  ORBGON. 


have  started  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  I  ex- 
pect to  go  there." 

Spaldinj^  in  a  dressing  gown  in  his  study,  or 
in  a  city  pulpit,  would  have  been  in  his  element, 
but  he  was  not  especially  marked  for  an  Indian 
missionary.  Early  in  the  campaign  a  Missouri 
cow  kicked  him  off  the  ferry  boat  into  the  river. 
The  ague  racked  every  bone  in  his  body,  and  a 
Kansas  tornado  at  one  time  lifted  both  his  tent 
and  his  blanket  and  lefi  him  helpless.  He 
seemed  to  catch  every  disaster  that  came  along. 
A  man  may  have  excellent  points  in  his  make- 
up, as  Dr.  Spalding  had,  and  yet  not  be  a  good 
pioneer. 

He  and  his  noble  wife  made  a  grand  success, 
however,  when  they  got  into  their  field  of  work. 
It  was  Mrs.  Spalding  who  first  translated  Bible 
truths  and  Christian  songs  into  the  Indian  dia- 
lect. 

It  seemed  a  discouraging  start  for  the  little 
company  when  compelled  to  pull  out  upon  the 
boundless  plains  alone.  But  led  by  Whitman, 
they  persevered  and  caught  the  convoy  late  in 
May. 

The  Doctor's  boys  now  proved  of  good  ser- 
vice. They  were  patient  and  untiring  and  at 
home  on  the  trail.  They  took  charge  of  all 
the  loose  stock.  The  cows  they  were  taking 
along  would  be  of  great  value  upon  reaching 
their  destination,  and  they  proved  to  be  of  value 


HOW   MAKCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


71 


alon^  the  journey  as  well,  as  milk  suppliers  for 
the  little  party. 

The  first  part  of  the  journey  Mrs.  Whitman 
rode  mainly  in  the  wagon  with  Mrs.  Spalding, 
who  was  not  strong  enough  for  horseback  rid- 
ing. But  soon  she  t^ok  to  her  pony  and  liked 
it  so  much  better,  that  she  rode  nearly  all  the 
way  on  horseback.  They  were  soon  initiated 
into  the  trials  and  dangers  of  the  journey. 

On  May  9th  Mrs.  Whitman  writes  in  her 
diary: 

"We  had  great  difficulty  to-day.  Husband 
became  so  completely  exhausted  with  swim- 
ming the  river,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he 
made  the  shore  the  last  time.  We  had  but  one. 
canoe,  made  of  skins,  and  that  was  partly  eaten 
by  the  dogs  the  night  before." 

She  speaks  of  "meeting  large  bodies  of  Paw- 
nee Indians,"  and  says: 

"They  seemed  very  much  surprised  ana  pleas- 
ed to  see  white  women.  They  were  noble  looking 
Indians." 

"We  attempted,  by  a  hard  march,  to  reach 
Loup  Fork.  The  wagons  got  there  at  eleven  at 
night,  but  husband  and  I  rode  with  the  Indian 
boys  until  nine  o'clock,  when  Richard  proposed 
that  we  go  on  and  they  would  stay  with  the  loose 
cattle  upon  the  prairie,  and  drive  them  in  early 
in  the  morning.  We  did  not  like  to  leave  tbem 
and  concluded  to  stay.     Husband  had  a  cup  tied 


72 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


I* 


to  his  saddle,  and  in  this  he  milked  what  we 
wanted  to  drink;  this  was  our  supper.  Our  sad- 
dle-blankets with  our  rubber-cloaks  were  our 
beds.  Having  offered  thanksgiving  for  the  bless- 
ings of  the  day,  and  seeking  protection  for  the 
night,  we  committed  ourselves  to  rest.  We 
awoke  refreshed  and  rode  into  camp  before 
breakfast." 

Here  they  caught  up  with  the  Fur  Company 
caravan,  after  nearly  a  month's  traveling.  These 
brave  women,  with  their  kindness  and  tact,  soon 
won  the  good-will  and  friendship  of  the  old 
plainsmen,  and  every  vestige  of  opposition  to 
havmg  women  in  the  train  disappeared  and  every 
possible  civility  and  courtesy  was  extended  to 
them.  One  far-seeing  old  American  trader,  who 
had  felt  the  iron-heel  of  the  English  Company 
beyond  the  Stony  Mountains,  pointing  to  the 
little  missionary  band,  prophetically  remarked, 
"  There  is  something  that  the  Honorable  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  can  not  drive  out  of  Oregon." 

In  her  diary  of  the  journey,  Mrs.  Whitman 
never  expresses  a  fear,  and  yet  remembering  my 
own  sensations  upon  the  same  journey,  I  can 
scarcely  conceive  that  two  delicately  nurtured 
woman  would  not  be  subjected  to  great  anxi- 
eties. 

The  Platte  River,  m  that  day,  was  but  little 
understood  and  looked  much  worse  than  it  really 
was.    Where  forded  it  was  a  mile  wide,  and  not 


, 


X 


■::.^*^ 


¥i 


■"''■^iiffi*'''''"' 


DR.  MARCUS  WHITMAN. 

No  Dicture  of  Dr.  Whitman  is  in  existence.  The  above  portrait  is  made  from 
the  basis  of  a  pholotrraph  of  Rev.  Marcus  Whitninii  Montj-'omery,  who  resembled 
Ur.  Whitman  very  closely.  Chansies  have  been  made  under  the  supervision  of  I  be 
family,  who  now  pronounce  this  a  very  correct  lilieuess. 


ii^ 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


73 


often  more  than  breast-deep  to  the  horses.  Two 
men,  on  the  best  horses,  rode  fifty  yards  in  ad- 
vance of  the  wagons,  zig-zagging  up  and  down, 
while  the  head-driver  kept  an  eye  open  for  the 
shallowest  water  and  kept  upon  the  bar.  In 
doing  this  a  train  vv^ould  sometimes  have  to  travel 
nearly  twice  the  distance  of  the  width  of  the 
river  to  get  across.  The  bed  of  the  river  is  made 
of  shifting  sand,  and  a  team  is  not  allowed  to  stop 
for  a  moment,  or  it  will  steadily  settle  down  and 
go  out  of  sight. 

A  balky  team  or  a  break  in  the  harness  re- 
quires prompt  relief  or  all  will  be  lost.  But 
after  all  the  Platte  River  is  remembered  by  all 
old  plainsmen  with  a  blessing.  For  three  hun- 
dred miles  it  administered  to  the  comfort  of  the 
pioneers. 

It  is  even  doubtful  whether  they  could  have 
gone  the  journey  had  it  not  been  for  the  Platte, 
as  it  rolls  its  sands  down  into  the  Missouri.  The 
water  is  turbid  with  sand  at  all  times,  as  the 
winds  in  their  wide  sweep  across  sandy  plains 
perpetually  add  to  its  supply.  But  the  water 
when  dipped  up  over  night  and  the  sand  allowed 
to  settle,  is  clear  and  pure  and  refreshing. 

The  pioneers,  however,  took  the  Platte  water 
as  it  ran,  often  remarking,  "In  this  country  a 
fellow  needs  sand  and  the  Platte  was  bnlt  to 
furnish  it."  In  June  Mrs.  Whitman  writes:  "We 
are  now  in  the  buffalo  country  and  my  husband 


%n'   I 


>  i% 


74 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


and  I  relish  it;  he  has  a  different  way  of  cooking 
every  part  of  the  animal." 

Mrs.  Whitman  makes  the  following  entry  in 
her  diary,  for  the  benefit  of  her  young  sisters: 

"  Now,  H.  and  E.,  you  must  not  think  it  very 
hard  to  have  to  get  up  so  early  after  sleeping  on 
the  soft  ground,  when  you  find  it  hard  work  to 
open  your  eyes  at  seven  o'clock.  Just  think  of 
me  every  morning.  At  the  word  'Arise!*  we  all 
spring.  While  the  horses  are  feeding  we  get 
breakfast  in  a  hurry  and  eat  it.  By  that  time 
the  words  'Catch  up,  catch  up,'  ring  throughout 
the  camp  for  moving.  We  are  ready  to  start 
usually  at  six,  travel  till  eleven,  encamp,  rest  and 
feed,  and  start  again  at  two  and  travel  till  six 
and  if  we  come  to  a  good  tavern,  camp  for  the 
night." 

A  certain  number  of  men  were  i  -^t  apart  for 
hunters  each  day  and  they  v/ere  expected  to 
bring  in  four  mule  loads  of  meat  to  supply  the 
daily  demands.  While  in  the  buffalo  country 
this  was  an  easy  task;  when  it  came  to  deer,  an- 
telope and  birds,  it  was  much  more  difficult 
work. 

The  antelope  is  a  great  delicacy,  but  he  is 
the  fleetest  footed  runner  upon  the  plains  and 
has  to  be  captured,  generally,  by  strategy.  He 
has  a  1  inordinate  curiosity.  The  hunter  lies 
down  and  waves  a  red  handkerchief  on  the  end 
of  hiii  ra  -n-rod  and  the  whole  herd  seems  to  have 


m-'^- 


\  I 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON^ 


75 


the  greatest  desire  to  know  what  it  is.  They 
gallop  around,  trot  high  and  snort  and  keep 
coming  nearer,  until  within  gun  shot  they  pay 
dearly  for  their  curiosity. 

To  avoid  danger  and  failure  of  meat  supplies 
before  leaving  the  buffalo  country,  the  company 
stopped  and  laid  in  a  good  supply  of  jerked 
buffalo  meat.  It  was  well  they  did,  tor  it  was 
about  all  they  had  for  a  long  distance.  As  Mrs. 
Whitman  says  in  her  diary: 

"Dried  buffalo  meat  and  tea  for  breakfast, 
and  tea  and  dried  buffalo  meat  for  supper,"  but 
jokingly  adds,  "  The  Doctor  gives  it  variety  by 
cooking  every  part  of  the  animal  in  a  different 
way."  But  after  all  it  was  a  novel  menu  for  a 
bridal  trip. 

By  a  strange  miscalculation  they  ran  out  of 
flour  before  the  journey  was  half  ended.  But, 
says  Mrs.  Whitman,  "  My  health  continues 
good,  but  sister  Spalding  has  been  ma  e  sick 
by  the  diet." 

On  July  22d,  she  writer: 

"  Had  a  tedious  ride  until  four  p.  m.  1  thought 
of  my  mother's  bread  as  a  child  would,  but  did 
not  find  it.  I  should  relish  it  extre  nely  well. 
But  we  feel  that  the  good  Father  has  blessed  us 
beyond  our  most  sanguine  expectations.  It  is 
good  to  feel  that  He  is  all  I  want  and  if  I  had 
ten  thousand  lives  I  would  give  them  all  to 
Him." 


•  XT- 


76 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


The  road  discovered  by  the  pioneers  through 
the  South  Pass  seems  to  have  been  made  by 
nature  on  purpose  to  unite  the  Pacific  with  the 
Atlantic  slope  by  an  easy  wagon  road.  The 
Wind  River  and  Rocky  Mountain's  appear  to 
have  run  out  of  material,  or  spread  out  to  make 
it  an  easy  climb.  So  gentle  is  the  ascent  the 
bulk  of  the  way  that  the  traveller  is  scarcely 
aware  of  the  fact  that  he  is  climbing  the  great 
"Stony  Mountains." 

Fremont  discovered  the  pass  in  1842  anu  went 
through  it  again  in  1843,  and  Stanbury  in  1849, 
but  it  is  well  to  remember  that  upon  this  notable 
bridal  tour,  these  Christian  la /ies  passed  over 
the  same  route  six  years  before  "The  Pathfinder," 
or  the  engineer  corps  of  the  United  St'xtes,  evrr 
saw  it. 

It  is  always  an  object  of  interest  to  know 
when  the  top  has  been  reached  and  to  see  the 
famous  spring  from  vvhich  the  water  divides  and 
runs  both  ways.  Our  Missionary  band,  accus- 
tomed to  have  regular  worship  on  the  plains, 
when  they  reached  the  dividing  of  the  waters 
held  an  especially  interesting  service.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Jonaclian  Ed.vards  graphically  describes  it. 
He  says 

"There  i  ^  n  r^cene  connected  with  their  jour- 
ney which  dv  lands  extraordinary  attention  in 
view  :>f  its  g  f^at  significance.  It  is  one  that 
arouses  all  that  is  good  within  us,  and  has  been 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


77 


pronounced  as  hardly  paralleled  in  American 
records  for  historic  grandeur  and  far-reaching 
consequence.  It  is  sublimely  beautiful  and 
inspiring  in  its  effects,  and  would  baffle  the 
genius  of  a  true  poet  to  describe  it  with  adequate 
fitness.  They  were  yet  high  on  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  with  the  great  expanse  of  the  Pacific 
slope  opening  before  them  like  a  magnificent 
panorama.  Their  hearts  were  profoundly  moved 
as  they  witnessed  the  landscape  unfolding  its 
delightful  scenes,  and  as  they  viewed  the  vast 
empire  given  them  to  win  for  King  Emanuel." 
"There  we  find  the  little  group  of  five  mission- 
aries, and  the  two  Nez  Perces  boys  that  Whit- 
man took  with  him  to  New  York  selecting  a  spot 
where  the  bunch  grass  grows  high  and  thick. 
Their  hearts  go  out  to  God  in  joyful  adoration 
for  his  protecting  care  over  them  thus  far,  espec- 
ially so,  because  they  felt  the  greatest  difficulties 
had  been  overcome  and  they  now  entered  the 
country  for  the  people  of  which  they  had  devoted 
their  lives.  The  sk}'  is  bright  above  them,  the 
sun  shines  serenely  and  the  atmosphere  is  light 
and  invigorating.  The  sun  continues  his  course 
and  illuminates  the  western  horizon  like  a  flame 
of  fire,  as  if  striving  to  give  them  a  temporary 
glimpse  of  the  vast  domain  between  them  and 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  They  spread  their  blankets 
carefully  on  the  grass,  and  lifted  the  American 
flag  to  wr^ve  gracefully  in  the  breeze,  and  with 


•r"' 


1! 


m 


f 


m 


I 

i'd 

it 


I 


I 


i 


Hi 


I 


I 


tr 


V8 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


Mi 


the  Bible  in  the  centre,  they  kneit,  and  with 
prayer  and  praise  on  their  lips,  they  take  posses- 
sion of  the  western  side  of  the  American  conti- 
nent in  His  name  who  proclaimed  "Peace  on 
earth  and  good  will  toward  men."  How  strongly 
it  evidences  their  faith  in  their  mission  and  the 
conquering  power  of  the  King  of  Peace.  What 
a  soul-inspiring  scene." 

Continuing  her  diary  Mrs.  Whitman  says: 
"I  have  been  in  a  peaceful  state  of  mind  all  day." 

July  2^'i.h  she  writes:  "The  ride  has  been  very 
mountainous,  paths  only  winding  along  the  sides 
of  steep  mountains,  in  many  places  so  narrow 
that  the  animal  would  scarcely  find  room  to 
place  his  foot." 

It  is  upon  this  date  that  she  again  mourns 
over  the  Doctor's  persistence  in  hauling  along 
his  hist'/ric  wagon.  Even  the  good  wife  in  full 
sympathy  with  her  husband  failed  to  see  it  as  he 
did;  it  was  the  pioneer  chariut,  loaded  w^lth  a  rich- 
ness that  no  wagon  before  or  since  contained. 

On  July  25th:  "  Husband  has  had  a  tedious 
time  with  the  wagon  to-day.  It  got  stuck  in  the 
creek,  and  on  the  mountain  side,  so  steep  that 
the  horses  could  scarcely  climb,  it  was  upset 
twice.  It  was  a  wonder  that  it  was  not  turning 
somersaults  continually.  It  is  not  grateful  to  my 
feelings  to  see  him  wearing  himself  out  with  ex- 
cessive fatigue.  All  the  most  difficult  portions 
of  the  way  he  has  walked,  in  a  laborious  attempt 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


79 


to  take  the  wagon."  Those  who  have  gone  over 
the  same  road  and  remember  the  hard  pulls  at 
the  end  of  long  ropes,  where  there  was  plenty  of 
help,  will  wonder  most  that  he  succeeded. 

The  company  arrived  at  Fort  Hall  on  August 
1st.  Here  they  succeeded  in  buying  a  little 
rice,  which  was  regarded  a  valuable  addition  to 
their  slender  stock  of  eatables.  They  had  gone 
beyond  the  buffalo  range  and  had  to  live  upon 
the  dried  meat,  venison  and  wild  ducks  or  fish, 
all  of  which  were  scarce  and  in  limited  supply. 

Speaking  of  crossing  Snake  River  Mrs. 
Whitman  says,  "We  put  the  packs  on  the  tallest 
horses,  the  highest  being  selected  for  Mrs. 
Spalding  and  myself. 

"  The  river  where  we  crossed  is  divided  into 
three  branches,  by  islands.  The  lasl  bianch  is 
half  a  mile  wide  and  so  deep  as  to  come  up  to 
the  horses'  sides,  and  a  very  strong  current.  The 
wagon  turned  upside  down  in  the  current,  and 
the  mules  were  entangled  in  the  harness.  I  once 
thought  of  the  terrors  of  the  rivers,  but  now  I 
cross  the  most  difficult  streams  without  a  fear." 

Among  the  novel  ferries  she  speaks  of  was 
a  dried  elk  skin  with  two  ropes  attached.  The 
party  to  be  ferried  lies  flat  down  on  tne  skin 
and  two  Indian  women  swimming,  holding  the 
ropes  in  their  mouths  pull  it  across  the  stream. 

One  of  the  notable  qualities  of  Dr.  Whitman 
was  his  observance  of  the  small  things  in  every- 


80 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


day  life.  Many  a  man  who  reaches  after  grand 
results  overlooks  and  neglects  the  little  events. 
Mrs.  Whitman  says: 

"  For  weeks  and  weeks  our  camping  places 
have  been  upon  open  plains  with  not  a  tree  in 
sight,  but  even  here  we  find  rest  and  comfort. 
My  husband,  the  best  the  world  ever  produced, 
Is  always  ready  to  provide  a  comfortable  shade 
from  the  noonday  sun  when  we  stop.  With  one 
of  our  saddle  blankets  stretched  across  the  sage 
brush  or  upheld  by  sticks,  our  saddle  blankets 
and  fishamores  placed  on  the  ground,  our  rest- 
ing is  delightful." 

Among  the  notable  events  of  the  journey  was 
when  the  party  reached  Green  River,  the  place 
of  annual  meeting  of  the  Indians  and  the  trad- 
ers. It  was  this  place  that  Dr.  Whitman  had 
reached  the  year  previous.  The  Green  is  one 
of  the  large  branches  of  ti'L  Colorado,  which 
heads  among  the  snow  banKS  of  Fremont's  Peak, 
a  thousand  miles  away.  In  its  picturesque  rugged 
beauty  few  sections  excel  the  scenery  along  the 
river,  and  now  the  whole  scene,  alive  with  fron- 
tier and  savage  life,  was  one  to  impress  itself  in- 
delibly upon  the  memories  of  our  travelers. 

There  were  about  two  hundred  traders  and 
two  thousand  Indians,  representatives  of  tribes 
located  many  hundreds  of  miles  distant.  The 
Cayuse  and  Nez  Perces,  who  expected  Dr. 
Whitman  and   his  delegation,  were  present  to 


HOW    MARCUS    WHITMAN   SAVF.D   ORROON. 


81 


honor  the  occasion,  and  meet  the  hoys,  John  and 
Richard,  who  had  accompanied  the  doclcjr  fron 
this  place  the  year  before.  The  Indians  ex- 
pressed great  deli|yht  over  the  successful  jour- 
ney; but  most  of  all  they  were  delighted  with 
the  noble  white  squaws  who  had  come  over  the 
long  trail.  They  were  demonstrative  and 
scoured  the  mountains  for  delicacies  in  game 
from  the  woods  and  brought  trout  from  the 
river,  and  seemed  constantly  to  fear  that  they 
were  neglecting  some  courtesy  expected  of 
them. 

They  finally  got  up  a  war  tournament,  and 
six  hundred  armed  and  mounted  Indians,  in 
their  war  paint,  with  savage  yells  bore  down  to- 
ward the  tents  of  the  ladies,  and  it  was  almost 
too  realistic  of  savage  life  to  be  enjoyed. 

Here  the  brides  were  permitted  to  rest  for 
ten  days,  and  until  their  tired  animals  could  re- 
cuperate. The  scenery  along  the  last  three  hun- 
dred miles  was  most  charming,  and  almost  made 
the  travelers  forget  the  precipitous  climbs  and 
the  steep  descents.  The  days  sped  past,  and  the 
wagon  being  left  behind  to  be  sent  for  later  on, 
the  wedding  party  marched  more  rapidly. 
They  reached  Walla  Walla  river,  eight  miles 
from  the  fort,  the  last  day  of  August,  and  on 
September  ist  they  made  an  early  start  and 
galloped  into  the  fort.  The  party  was  hospitably 
received. 

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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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82 


HOW   MAKCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Says  Mrs.  Whitman:  "They  were  just  eat- 
ing breakfast  when  we  arrived,  and  soon  we 
were  seated  at  the  table  and  treated  to  fresh  sal- 
mon, potatoes,  tea,  bread  and  butter.  What  a 
variety,  thought  I.  You  cannot  imagine  what 
an  appetite  these  rides  in  the  mountains  give  a 
person." 

We  have  preferred  to  let  Mrs.  Whitman  tell 
in  her  own  way  the  story  of  this  memorable 
wedding  journey.  The  reader  will  look  in  vain 
for  any  mourning  or  disquietude.  Two  noble 
women  .started  in  to  be  the  help-meets  of  two 
good  men,  and  what  a  grand  success  they  made 
of  it.  There  is  nowhere  any  spirit  of  grum- 
bling, but  on  the  contrary,  a  joyousness  and  exhil- 
eration.  True  womanhood  of  all  time  is  hon- 
ored in  the  lives  of  such  women.  It  was  but  the 
coming  of  the  first  white  women  who  ever 
crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  notable  as  an 
heroic  wedding  journey,  but  to  the  world  it  was 
not  only  exalted  heroism,  but  a  great  historic 
event,  the  building  of  an  empire  whose  wide- 
reaching  good  cannot  easily  be  overestimated. 

It  was  an  event  unparalleled  in  real  or  ro- 
mantic literature,  and  so  pure  and  exalted  in 
its  motives,  and  prosecuted  so  unostentatiouly,  as 
to  honor  true  womanhood  for  all  time  to  come. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MISSION    LIFE    IN   WAIILATPUl. 


Most  writers  speatc  of  the  Mission  at  Waiilat- 
pui,  as  "The  Presbyterian  Mission."  While  it 
does  not  much  matter  whether  it  was  Presby- 
terian or  Congregational,  it  is  well  to  have  the 
history  correct.  The  two  great  churches  at  that 
time  were  united  in  their  foreign  missionary 
work,  and  their  missionaries  were  taken  from 
both  denominations.  A  year  or  more  ago  I 
asked  the  late  Professor  Marcus  Whitman  Mont- 
gomery, of  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary  (a 
namesake  of  Dr.  Whitman) ,  to  go  over  Dr.  Whit- 
man's church  record  while  in  Boston.  He  sends 
me  the  following,  which  may  be  regarded  as  au- 
thentic. 

Ravenswood,  Chicago, 
Jan.  5,  1894. 
Dr.  O.  W.  Nixon, 

Dear  Sir:  The  record  of  Dr.  Whitman's 
church  membership  is  as  follows:  Converted 
during  a  revival  in  the  Congregational  Church 


84 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


at  Plainfield,  Mass.,  in  1819,  Rev.  Moses  Hallock, 
pastor.  His  first  joining  of  a  church  was  at 
Rushville,  Yates  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where  he  joined  the 
Congregational  Church  in  1824,  Rev.  David 
Page,  pastor.  He  was  a  member  of  this  church 
for  nine  years,  then  he  removed  to  Wheeler 
Centre,  Steuben  Co.,  N.  Y.  There  being  no 
Congregational  Church  there  he  joined  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Wheeler  Centre,  Rev.  James 
T.  Hotchkiss,  pastor.  He  was  a  member  of  this 
Presbyterian  Church  for  three  years,  then  he 
went  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  This  mission  church 
was  Presbyterian  in  name  and  Congregational  in 
practice,  while  Whitman  and  the  other  mission- 
aties  were  supported  by  the  American  Board. 
The  American  Board  was  always  Congrega- 
tional, but,  at  that  time,  the  Presbyterians  were 
co-operating  with  the  American  Board. 

These  are  the  bottom  facts  as  I  have  every 
reason  to  believe. 

Very  truly  yours, 
Marcus  Whitman  Montgomery. 

The  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding  was  a  Presbyterian, 
and  the  Mission  Church  was  Presbyterian  in  name 
but  was  Congregational  in  practice,  and  had 
a  confession  of  faith  and  covenant  of  its  own. 
While  the  record  shows  Whitman  to  have  been 
a  Cr  ngregationalist,  it  also  shows  that  he  united 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  when  he  settled  at 
Wheeler  Centre,  N.  Y.,  where  there  was  no  Con- 


1    \ 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


85 


gregational  Church.  But  the  fact  remains  that 
his  memory  and  the  acts  of  his  grand  life  are 
amply  sufficient  to  interest  both  these  great  de- 
nominations. 

Mrs.Whitman  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church 
when  a  young  girl  of  eleven. 

Dr.  Whitman  was  born  at  Rushville,  N.  Y., 
Sept.  4,  1802,  and  was  thirty-three  years  old 
when  he  entered  upon  his  work  in  Oregon. 
When  first  converted  he  resolved  to  study  for 
the  ministry,  but  a  chain  of  circumstances 
changed  his  plans  and  he  studied  medicine.  The 
early  hardships  and  privations  educated  him  into 
an  admirable  fitness  for  the  chosen  work  of  his 
life. 

Picture  that  little  missionary  band  as  they 
stood  together  at  Fort  Walla  Walla  in  Septem- 
ber, 1836,  and  consulted  about  the  great  pro- 
blems to  solve.  It  was  all  new.  There  were  no 
precedents  to  guide  them.  They  easily  under- 
stood that  the  first  thing  to  do  was  to  consult  the 
ruling  powers  of  Oregon — the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany officials  at  Fort  Vancouver.  This  would  re- 
quire another  journey  of  three  hundred  miles,  but 
as  it  could  be  made  in  boats,  and  the  Indians 
were  capital  oarsmen,  they  resolved  to  take  their 
wives  with  them,  and  thus  complete  the  wedding 
journey. 

The  gallant  Dr.  McLoughlin,  Chief  Factor 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Co.,  was  a  keen  judge  of 


m 


■m 


86 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


I 


1 


human  nature,  and  read  men  and  women  as 
scholars  I'ead  books,  and  he  was  captivated  with 
the  open,  manly  ways  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  the 
womanly  accomplishments  of  the  fair  young 
wife,  who  had  braved  the  perils  of  an  overland 
journey  with  wholly  unselfish  purposes.  Whit- 
man soon  developed  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  all  his 
plans  and  his  hopes.  Perhaps  there  was  a  profes- 
sional free  masonry  between  the  men  that 
brought  them  closer  together,  but,  by  nature, 
they  were  both  men  endowed  richly  with  the 
best  manly  characters. 

Dr.  McLoughlin  resolved  to  do  the  best  thing 
possible  for  them,  while  he  still  protected  the  in- 
terests of  his  great  monopoly.  Dr.  Whitman's 
idea,  was  to  build  one  mission  at  the  Dalles  so 
as  to  be  conv  lent  to  shipping;  McLoughlin  at 
once  saw  it  'ould  not  do.  He  had  already 
pushed  the  Methodist  Mission  far  up  the  Willa- 
mette out  of  the  way  of  the  Fort  and  its  work, 
and  argued  with  Whitman  that  it  would  be  best 
for  him  to  go  to  the  Walla  Walla  country,  three 
hundred  miles  away,  and  Spalding,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles  farther  on. 

He  argued  that  the  river  Indians  were  far 
less  hopeful  subjects  to  deal  with,  and  that  the 
bunch  grass  Indians,  the  Cayuse  and  Nez  Perces, 
had  expressed  a  great  anxiety  for  teachers.  This 
arrangement  had  been  partially  agreed  to  by 
Mr.  Parker  the  year  before.  After  a  full  canvass 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


87 


of  the  entire  subject,  Dr.  McLoughlin  promised 
all  the  aid  in  his  power  to  give  them  a  comfort- 
able start. 

At  his  earnest  petition,  Mrs.  Whitman  and 
Mrs.  Spalding  remained  at  Vancouver  while 
their  husbands  went  back  to  erect  houses  that 
would  shelter  them  from  the  coming  winter.  To 
make  Mrs.  Whitman  feel  at  ease,  and  that  she 
was  not  taxing  the  generosity  of  their  new  friends, 
Dr.  McLoughlin  placed  his  daughter  under  her 
instruction,  both  in  her  class  work  and  music. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  interest  and  entertain 
the  guests;  the  afternoons  were  given  to  excur- 
siojis  on  the  water,  or  on  horseback,  or  in  ram- 
bles through  the  great  fir  forests,  still  as  wild  as 
nature  made  them. 

There  is  a  grandeur  in  the  great  forest  be- 
yond the  Stony  Mountains  unequaled  in  any  por- 
tion of  the  world.  In  our  Northern  latitudes  the 
undergrowth  is  so  thick  as  to  make  comfortable 
traveling  impossible,  but  in  the  fir  woods  and  in 
the  pine  and  redwood  forests  of  Oregon,  there 
are  comparatively  few  of  such  obstructions.  The 
great  giants  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  two 
hundred  and  seventy  feet  high,  and  one  hundred 
feet  without  a  limb,  hide  the  sun,  and  upon  a 
summer  day  make  jaunts  through  the  forest  de- 
lightful to  a  lover  of  nature.  • 

It  was  a  grand  rest  and  a  pleasing  finale  to 
the  hardships  of  the  wedding  journey  for  these 


■'•  i\ 


7 

I 


88 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


heroic  women,  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  in  her  diary, 
never  a  day  neglects  to  remember  her  kind  ben- 
efactors. They  rested  here  for  about  one  and  a 
half  months  when  Mr.  Spalding  came  after  them 
and  reported  the  houses  so  far  advanced  as  to 
give  them  shelter.  We  read  the  following  note 
in  Mrs.  Whitman's  diary,  1836: 

"Dec.  26th.  Where  are  we  now,  and  who  are 
we,  that  we  should  be  thus  blessed  of  the  Lord? 
I  can  scarcely  realize  that  we  are  thus  comforta- 
bly fixed  and  keeping  house  so  soon  after  our 
marriage,  when  considering  what  was  then  be- 
fore us. 

"We  arrived  here  on  the  loth,  distance  twen- 
ty fiv!  miles  from  Fort  Walla  Walla.  Found  a 
hoi.:L\3  reared  and  the  lean-to  enclosed,  a  good 
chimney  and  fire-place,  and  the  floor  laid.  No 
windows  or  doors,  except  blankets.  My  heart 
truly  leaped  for  joy  as  I  lighted  from  my 
horse,  entered  and  seated  myself  before  a  pleas- 
ant fire  (for  it  was  now  night) .  It  occurred  to 
me  that  my  dear  parents  had  made  a  similar  be- 
ginning and  perhaps  a  more  difficult  one  than 
ours. 

"We  had  neither  straw,  bedstead  or  table, 
nor  anything  to  make  them  of  except  green  cot- 
ton-wood. All  our  boards  are  sawed  by  hand. 
Here  my  husband  and  his  laborers  (two  Owy- 
hees  from  Vancouver,  and  a  man  who  crossed  the 
mountains  with  us),  and  Mr.  Gray  had  been  en- 


n; 


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HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


80 


camped  in  a  tent  since  the  19th  of  October,  toil- 
ing excessively  hard  to  accomplish  this  much  for 
9ur  comfortable  residence  during  the  remainder 
of  the  winter. 

**  It  is,  indeed,  a  lovely  situation.  We  are  on 
a  beautiful  level  peninsula  formed  by  the 
branches  of  the  Walla  Walla  river,  upon  the 
base  of  which  our  house  stands,  on  the  southeast 
corner,  near  the  shore  of  the  main  river.  To 
run  a  fence  across  to  the  opposite  river  on  the 
north  from  our  house — this,  with  the  river  would 
inclose  three  hundred  acres  of  good  land  for 
cultivation,  all  directly  under  the  eye. 

"The  rivers  are  barely  skirted  with  timber. 
This  is  all  the  woodland  we  can  see.  Beyond 
them,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  plains  and 
mountains  appear.  On  the  east,  a  few  rods 
from  the  house,  is  a  range  of  small  hills  covered 
with  bunch  grass,  very  excellent  food  for  animals 
and  upon  which  they  subsist  during  winter,  even 
digging  it  from  under  the  snow." 

This  section  is  now  reported  as  among  the 
most  fertile  and  beautiful  places  in  Washington. 
Looking  away  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  the 
scenic  beauty  is  grandly  impressive.  The  Indians 
named  the  place  Wai-i-lat-pui  (the  place  of  rye 
grass.)  For  twenty  miles  there  is  a  level  reach 
of  fertile  soil  through  which  flows  like  a  silver 
thread  the  Walla  Walla  river,  while  in  the  dis- 
tance loom    up  toward  the   clouds  as    a  back- 


90 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


ground,  the  picturesque  Blue  Mountains.  The 
greatest  drawback  was  the  long  distance  to  any 
timber  suitable  for  making  boards,  and  the  al- 
most entire  lack  of  helpers. 

The  Cayuse  Indians  seemed  delighted  with 
the  prospect  of  a  Mission  church  and  school,  but 
they  thought  it  disgraceful  for  them  to  work.  The 
doctor  had  to  go  from  nine  to  fifteen  miles  to  get 
his  timber  for  boards,  and  then  hew  or  saw  them 
out  by  hand.  It  was  not  therefore,  strange,  as 
Mrs.  Whitman  writes  in  her  diary,  December 
26th:  "No  doors  or  windows."  From  the  day 
he  entered  upon  his  work,  Dr.  Whitman  was 
well  nigh  an  incessant  toiler.  Every  year  he 
built  an  addition  to  his  house. 

T.  J.  Furnham,  who  wrote  a  book  of  "Trav- 
els Across  the  Great  Western  Prairies  and 
Rocky  Mountains,"  visited  the  Whitman  Mission 
in  September,  1839.  He  says,  "  I  found  250  acres 
enclosed  and  200  acres  under  good  cultivation. 
I  found  forty  or  fifty  Indian  children  between 
the  ages  of  seven  and  eighteen  years  in  school, 
and  Mrs.  Whitman  an  indefatigable  instructor." 
"One  building  was  in  course  of  construction 
and  a  small  grist  mill  in  running  order." 

He  says  again:  "It  appeared  to  me  quite 
remarkable  that  the  Doctor  could  have  made  so 
many  improvements  since  the  year  1836;  but  the 
industry  v/hich  crowded  every  hour  of  the  day, 
his  untiring  energy  of  character,  and  the  very 


1 1 


HOW  MARCUS  .WHITMAN   SAVED.  OREGON. 


91 


M 


efficient  aid  of  his  wife  in  relieving  him  in  a 
great  degree  from  the  labors  of  the  school,  en- 
abled him,  without  funds  for  such  purposes,  and 
without  other  aid  than  that  of  a  fellow  mission- 
ary for  short  intervals,  to  fence,  plow,  build, 
plant  an  orchard,  and  do  all  the  other  laborious 
acts  of  opening  a  plantation  on  the  face  of  that 
distant  wilderness,  learn  an  Indian  language,  and 
do  the  duties,  meanwhile,  of  a  physician  to  the 
associate  stations  on  the  Clearwater  and  Spo- 
kane." 

People  who  give  their  money  for  mis- 
sionary work  can  easily  see  that  in  the  case  in 
hand  they  received  faithful  service.  This  is  no 
prejudiced  report,  but  facts  based  upon  the 
knowledge  of  a  stranger,  who  had  no  reason  to 
misrepresent  or  exaggerate. 

One  of  the  first  efforts  of  Dr.  Whitman  was 
to  induce  his  Indians  to  build  permanent  homes, 
to  plow,  plant  and  sow.  This  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  had  always  discouraged.  They  wanted 
their  savage  aids  as  nomads  and  hunters,  ready 
to  move  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  miles  away 
in  search  of  furs.  They  had  never  been  encour- 
aged to  raise  either  grain  or  fruit,  cattle  or  sheep. 

Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards  says,  in  speaking  of 
The  Whitman  Mission  in  1842:  "The  Indians 
were  cultivating  from  one-fourth  to  four  acres  of 
land,  had  seventy  head  of  cattle,  and  some  of 
them  a  few  sheep."     The  same  author  gives  a 


92 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


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graphic  description  of  the  painstaking  work  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  not  only  in  the  school 
room,  but  in  the  Indian  home,  to  show  them  the 
comforts  and  benefits  of  civilization  Every 
Indian  who  will  plant  is  furnished  the  seed. 

He  also  describes  the  orderly  Sunday  at  the 
Mission.  Up  to  the  year  1838  the  principal  meat 
used  as  food  by  the  Mission  was  horse  flesh. 
The  cattle  were  too  few  to  be  sacrificed  in  that 
way.  In  1837  Mrs.  Whitman  writes  in  her  diary, 
"We  have  had  but  little  venison  furnished  by  the 
Indians,  but  to  supply  our  men  and  visitors  we 
have  bought  of  the  Indians  and  eaten  ten  wild 
horses." 

In  1 84 1  their  stock  of  hogs  and  cattle  had  so 
increased  that  they  were  able  to  make  a  partial 
change  of  diet. 

Another  witness  to  the  -value  of  Dr.  Whit- 
man's missionary  work,  is  Joseph  Drayton,  of 
Commodore  Wilkes'  exploring  expedition  of 
1841. 

He  says  of  the  Mission:  "All  the  premises 
looked  comfortable,  the  garden  especially  fine, 
vegetables  and  melons  in  great  variety.  The 
wheat  in  the  fields  was  seven  feet  high  and 
nearly  ripe,  and  the  corn  nine  feet  in  the  tassel." 
He  marks  the  drawbacks  of  the  Mission,  "The 
roving  of  the  Indians,  rarely  staying  at  home 
more  than  three  months  at  a  time."  "They  are 
off  after  buffalo/'  and  "again  off  after  the  sal- 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


93 


mon,"  and  "not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  remain 
during  the  Winter." 

These  Cayuse  Indians  were  not  a  numerous 
band  but  they  were  born  traders,  were  wealthy 
and  had  a  great  influence  over  other  tribes. 
Their  wealth  consisted  mainly  in  horses;  a  single 
Indian  Chief  owned  two  thousand  head.  One 
of  their  good  qualities  Mrs.  Whitman  speaks  of, 
is?,  'there  are  no  thieves  among  them."  She  has 
to  keep  nothing  locked  out  of  fear  from  thieves; 
but  they  had  one  trying  habit  of  which  Mrs. 
Whitman  had  great  trouble  to  break  them,  that 
was,  they  thought  they  had  a  right  lo  go  into 
every  room  in  the  house,  and  seemed  to  think 
that  something  was  wrong  when  deprived  of  vis- 
iting the  bed  rooms  of  the  family. 

In  June,  1839,  a  great  sorrow  came  to  D*. 
nd  Mrs.  Whitman.  They  had  but  one  child,  a 
little  girl  of  two  years  and  three  months  old. 
In  their  isolated  condition  one  can  easily  imag- 
ine what  a  large  place  a  bright  and  attractive 
child  would  have  in  the  heart  of  father  and 
mother  in  such  a  home.  In  the  pursuance  of 
his  duties  the  Doctor  was  absent  night  after 
night,  and  some  of  his  more  distant  patients  oc- 
cupied him  frequently  many  days. 

It  was  at  such  times  that  Mrs.  Whitman  found 
great  comfort  and  happiness  in  her  little  daugh- 
ter. The  child  had  learned  the  Indian  language 
and  spoke  it  fluently,  to  the  delight  of  the  Indians, 


^^'HA 


94, 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


'    ., 


and  had  learned  all  the  songs  sung  in  the  Nez 
Perces  dialect,  having  inherited  the  musical  tal- 
ent of  her  mother.  It  was  in  September,  1839, 
that  she  was  accidentally  drowned  in  the  Walla 
Walla  R!ver.  In  her  diary  Mrs.  Whitman  writes 
to  her  mother: 

"  I  cannot  describe  what  our  feelings  were 
when  night  came  and  our  dear  child  a  corpse  in 
the  next  room.  We  went  to  bed,  but  not  to 
sleep,  for  sleep  had  departed  from  our  eyes. 
The  morning  came,  we  arose,  but  our  child  slept 
on.  I  prepared  a  shroud  for  her  during  the  day; 
we  kept  her  four  days;  it  was  a  great  blessing 
and  comfort  to  me  so  long  as  she  looked  natural 
and  was  so  sweet  I  could  caress  he^r.  But  when 
her  visage  began  to  change  I  felt  it  a  great  priv- 
ilege that  I  could  put  her  in  so  safe  a  resting 
place  as  the  grave,  to  see  her  no  more  until  the 
resurrection  morning." 

"Although  her  grave  is  in  sight  every  time  1 
Step  out  of  the  door  my  thoughts  seldom  wander 
there  to  find  her.  I  look  above  with  unspeakable 
delight,  and  contemplate  her  as  enjoying  the  full 
delights  of  that  bright  world  where  her  joys  are 
perfect." 

One  seldom  reads  a  more  pathetic  story  than 
this  rccor'^'cd  by  Mrs.  Whitman,  and  yet,  the  al- 
most heartbroken  mother  in  her  anguish  never 
murmiirs  or  rebels.  On  the  morning  of  the  day 
she  was  drowned,  Mrs.  Whitman  writes,  the  littk 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN. SAVED  OREGON. 


95 


daughter  was  permitted  to  select  a  hymn  for  the 
family  worship.  She  made  a  selection  of  the 
old  time  favorite: 

"ROCK  OF  AGES." 

"While  I  draw  this  fleeting  breath, 
When  my  eyelids  close  in  death; 
When  I  rise  to  world's  unknown, 
And  behold  Thee  on  Thy  Throne; 
Rock  of  ages  cleft  tor  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  Thee. 

When  the  Indians  came  in  for  the  afternoon 
service  Dr.  Whitman  turned  to  the  same  hymn 
and  the  baby  girl  again  with  her  sweet  voice 
joined  in  the  singing.     Says  Mrs.  Whitman: 

"  This  was  the  last  we  heard  her  sing.  Little 
did  we  think  that  her  young  life  was  so  fleeting 
or  that  those  sparkling  eyes  would  so  soon  be 
closed  in  death,  and  her  spirit  rise  to  world's  un- 
known to  behold  on  His  Throne  of  glory  Him 
who  said,  *  I  will  be  a  God  to  thee  and  thy  seed 
after  thee.' " 

They  got  water  for  the  household  use  from 
the  running  river,  and  the  two  little  tin  cups 
were  found  in  the  edge  of  the  water.  An  old 
Indian  dived  in  and  soon  brought  out  the  body, 
but  life  was  extinct. 

The  profoundly  Christian  character  of  the 
mother  is  revealed  in  every  note  of  the  sad 
event. 

She  writes:  "Lord,  it  is  right;  it  is  right. 
She  is  not  mine,  but  thine;  she  was  only  lent  to 


m... 


'"*<iU 


y  0"' 


i 


li 


96 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


me  to  comfort  me  for  a  little  season,  and  now  dear 
Savior,  Thou  hast  the  best  right  to  her.  Thy 
will,  not  mine,  be  done."  Perils  and  hardships 
had  long  been  theirs,  but  this  was  their  great 
sorrow.  But  it  only  seemed  to  excite  them  to 
greater  achievements  in  the  work  before  them. 
Not  a  single  interest  was  neglected. 

The  sudden  death  of  "The  Little  White  Cay- 
use,"  as  the  Indians  called  her, .seemed  to  es- 
trange the  Indians  from  the  Mission.  They  al- 
most worshipped  her,  and  came  almost  daily  to 
see  her  and  hear  her  sing  the  Cayuse  songs. 
The  old  Chief  had  many  times  said:  "When  I 
die  I  give  everything  I  have  to  the  "Little  White 
Cayuse."  From  this  time  on  the  Indians  fre- 
quently showed  a  bad  spirit.  They  saw  the  flocks 
and  herds  of  the  Mission  increasing,  and  the 
fields  of  waving  grain,  and  began  to  grow  jealous 
and  make  demands  that  would  have  overtaxed 
and  caused  fear  in  almost  any  other  man  than  i 
Whitman. 

Both  before  and  after  his  memorable  ride  to 
Washington,  his  good  friend,  Dr.  McLoughlir 
many  times  begged  him  to  leave  the  Mission  for 
a  while,  until  the  Indians  got  in  a  better  frame  of 
mind.  No  man  knew  the  Indians  so  well  as 
McLoughlin,  and  he  saw  the  impending  dan- 
ger; but  no  entreaties  moved  Whitman.  Here 
was  his  life  work  and  here   he  would    remain. 

In  these  sketches  there  is  no  effort  to  tell  the 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


97 


complete  Oregon  Mission  story,  but  only  so  much 
of  it  as  will  make  clear  the  heroic  and  patriotic 
services  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman.  The  reader 
will  find  a  most  careful  study  of  the  whole  broad 
field  of  pioneer  mission  work  upon  the  Pacific 
Coast,  in  the  Rev.  Myron  Eells  two  books,  the 
"History  of  Indian  Missions,"  and  the  "  Biogra- 
phy of  Rev.  Gushing  Eells." 

How  much  or  how  little  the  work  of  the  Ore- 
gon Missionaries  benefitted  the  Indians,  eternity 
alone  will  reveal.  They  simply  obeyed  the  call 
"  To  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

A  train  of  circumstances,  a  series  of  evolu- 
tions in  national  history  which  they  neither  origi- 
nated nor  could  stop,  were  portending.  But 
that  the  Missionaries  first  of  all  saw  the  drift  of 
coming  events,  and  wisely  guided  them  to  the 
peace  and  lasting  good  of  the  nation  is  as  plain 
as  any  page  of  written  history. 

With  the  light  of  that  time,  with  the  terrible 
massacre  at  Waiilatpui  in 'sight,  it  is  not  strange 
that  good  people  felt  that  there  had  been  great 
sacrifice  with  small  good  results.  All  the  years 
since  have  been  correcting  such  false  estimates. 
The  American  Board  and  the  Christian  people 
of  the  land  had  made  their  greatest  mistake  in 
not  rallying  to  the  defense  of  their  martyr 
heroes. 

No  "forty  thousand    dollars"   ever  spent  by 
that  organization  before  or  since  has  been  so 

7 


Uj 


98 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


prolific  in  good.  The  argument  to  sustain  this 
assertion  will  be  found  in  other  sketches. 

The  United  States  Government  could  well 
afford  to  give  a  million  dollars  every  year  to  the 
American  Board  for  fifty  years  to  come,  and  to 
endow  Whitman  College  magnificently  and  then 
not  pay  a  moiety  for  the  benefit  it  has  received 
as  a  nation,  and  never  acknowledged. 

The  best  possible  answer  of  the  church  and 
of  the  friends  of  missions,  to  those  who  sneer- 
ingly  ask — What  good  has  resulted  to  the  world 
for  all  the  millions  spent  on  missions  ? — is  to 
point  to  that  neglected  grave  at  Waiilatpui,  and 
recite  the  story  of  heroism  and  patriotism  of  Dr. 
Marcus  Whitman. 


11^ 


CHAPTER  VI. 


'  THE  RIDE  TO  SAVE  OREGON. 


The  world  loves  a  hero,  and  the  pioneer 
history  of  our  several  States  furnishes  as  interest- 
ing characters  as  are  anywhere  recorded.  In  view 
of  the  facts  and  conditions  already  recited,  the 
old  Missionaries  were  anxious  and  restU  ss,  and 
yet  felt  in  a  measure  powerless  to  avert  the 
danger  threatened.  They  believed  fully  that 
under  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  1818,  re-afifirmed 
in  1828,  whichever  nationality  settled  and 
organized  the  territory,  that  nation  would  hold  it. 

This  was  not  directly  affirmed  in  the  terms 
of  that  treaty,  but  was  so  interpreted  by  the 
Americans  and  English  in  Oregon,  and  was 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  leading 
Statesmen  in  Congress  had  for  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury wholly  neglected  Oregon,  and  time  and 
again  gone  upon  record  as  declaring  it 
worthless  and  undesirable.  In  their  conferences 
the  Missionaries   from  time  to  time  had  gone 

99 


m 

is  Ml 


usal 


'■^i 


r 


100 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


over  the  whole  question,  and  did  everything  in 
their  power  to  encourage  immigration. 

Their  glowing  accounts  of  the  fertility  of  the 
soil,  the  balmy  climate,  the  towering  forests,  the 
indications  of  richness  in  minerals,  had  each 
year  induced  a  limited  number  of  more  daring 
Americans  to  immigrate. 

In  this  work  of  the  Missionaries,  Jason  Lee, 
the  chief  of  the  Methodist  Missions,  was,  up  to 
the  date  of  the  incident  we  are  to  narrate,  the 
most  successful  of  all.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
strength  of  character.  Like  Whitman  he  was 
also  a  man  of  great  physical  strength,  fearless, 
and  with  it  all,  wise  and  brainy.  No  other  man 
among  the  pioneers,  for  his  untiring  energy  in 
courting  immigration,  can  be  so  nearly  classed 
with  Whitman. 

They  were  all  men,  who,  though  in  Oregon 
to  convert  Indian  savages  to  Christianity,  yet 
were  intensely  American.  They  thought  it  no 
abuse  of  their  Christianity  to  carry  the  banner 
of  the  Cross  in  one  hand  and  the  banner  of  their 
country  in  the  other.  Missionaries  as  they  were, 
thousands  of  miles  from  home,  neglected  by  the 
Government,  yet  the  love  of  country  seemed  to 
shine  with  constantly  increasing  lustre. 

In  addition  to  the  Missionaries,  at  the  time  of 
which  we  write,  there  was  quite  a  population  of 
agriculturists  and  traders  in  the  near  vicinity  of 
each  mission.    These  heartily  cooperated  with 


\^ 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


101 


the  Missionaries  and  shared  their  anxieties. 
In  i840-'4i  many  of  them  met  and  canvassed 
the  subject  whether  they  should  make  an 
attempt  to  organize  a  government  under  the 
Stars  and  Stripes;  but  they  easily  saw  that  they 
were  outnumbered  by  the  English  who  were 
already  organized,  and  were  the  real  autocrats 
of  the  country. 

So  the  time  passed  until  the  fall  of  1842,  when 
Elijah  White,  an  Indian  agent  for  the  Govern- 
ment in  the  Northwest,  brought  a  party  of 
Americans,  men,  women  and  children,  number- 
ing one  hundred  and  twenty,  safely  through  to 
Waiilatpui.  In  this  company  was  a  more  than 
usually  intelligent,  well-informed  Christian  gen- 
tleman, destined  to  fill  an  important  place  in  our 
story,  General  Amos  L.  Lovejoy.  He  was 
thoroughly  posted  in  National  affairs,  and  gave 
Dr.  Whitman  his  first  intimation  of  the  proba- 
bility that  the  Ashburton  Treaty  would  likely 
come  to  a  crisis  before  Congress  adjourned  in 
March  1843.  This  related,  as  it  was  supposed,  to 
the  entire  boundary  between  the  United  States 
and  the  English  possessions. 

The  question  had  been  raised  in  1794. — 
"Where  is  'the  angle  of  Nova  Scotia,*  and  where 
are  the  'highlands  between  the  angle  and  the 
northwest  head  of  the  Connecticut  River  ?' "  Time 
and  again  it  had  been  before  commissioners, 
and  diplomats  had  many  times  grown  eloquent 


M       I 


102 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


in  explaining,  but  heretofore  nothing  had  come 
of  it.  Much  was  made  of  it,  and  yet  it  was  only 
a  dispute  as  to  who  owned  some  twelve  thousand 
and  twenty  acres  of  land,  much  of  which  was  of 
little  value. 

Looking  back  now  one  wonders  at  the  short- 
sightedness of  statesmen  who  quarreled  for 
forty-eight  years  over  this  garden  patch,  of 
rocky  land  in  Maine,  when  three  great  states 
were  quietly  slipping  away  with  scarcely  a  pro- 
test. But  this  arrival  of  recruits,  and  this 
knowledge  of  the  political  situation  revealed  by 
General  Lovejoy  at  once  settled  Dr.  Whitman 
upon  his  line  of  duty. 

To  Mrs.  Whitman  he  at  once  explained  the 
situation,  and  said  he  felt  impelled  to  go  to  Wash- 
ington. She  was  a  missionary's  wife,  a  courage- 
ous, true-hearted,  patriotic  woman,  who  loved  and 
believed  in  her  husband,  and  at  once  consented. 
Under  the  rules  the  local  members  of  the  Mis- 
sion had  to  be  consulted,  and  runners  were  at 
once  dispatched  to  the  several  stations,  and  all 
responded  promptly,  as  the  demand  was  for  their 
immediate  presence. 

There  was  a  second  rule  governing  such  cases 
of  letive  of  absence,  and  that  was  the  sanction, 
from  headquarters,  of  the  American  Board  in 
Boston.  But  in  this  emergency  Dr.  Whitman 
preferred  to  take  all  the  responsibility  and  cut 
the  red  tape.     Dr.  Eells,  one  of  the  noblest  of 


E   i 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


108 


the  old  Missionaries,  writes  an  account  of  that 
conference,  and  it  is  all  the  more  valuable  from 
the  fact  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  enterprise. 

Dr.  Eells  says:  "The  purpose  of  Dr.  Whit- 
man was  fixed.  In  his  estimation  the  saving  of 
Oregon  to  the  United  States  was  of  paramount 
importance,  and  he  would  make  the  attempt  to 
do  so,  even  if  he  had  to  v^rithdraw  from  the  Mis- 
sion in  order  to  accomplish  his  purpose.  In  reply 
to  considerations  intended  to  hold  Dr.  Whitman 
to  his  assigned  work,  he  said:  '  I  am  not  expatri- 
ated by  becoming  a  missionary.' 

"The  idea  of  his  withdrawal  could  not  be  en- 
tertained. Therefore,  to  retain  him  in  the  Mis- 
sion, a  vote  to  approve  of  his  making  this  peril- 
ous endeavor  prevailed." 

In  addition  to  this  the  Doctor  undoubtedly 
intended  to  visit  the  American  Board,  and  ex- 
plain the  mission  work  and  its  needs,  and  protest 
against  some  of  its  orders.  But  in  this  there 
was  no  need  of  such  haste  as  to  cause  the  mid- 
winter journey.  In  this  note  of  Dr.  Eells,'  the 
explanation  is  doubtless  correct. 

Dr.  Spalding  says:  "Dr.  Whitman's  last  re- 
marks were,  as  he  mounted  his  horse  for  the  long 
journey:  'If  the  Board  dismisses  me,  I  will  do  what 
I  can  to  save  Oregon  to  the  Country.  My  life  is 
of  but  little  worth  if  I  can  save  this  country  to 
the  American  people.'" 

They  all  regarded  it  a  most  perilous  under- 


'i!  if  I 


■-^^  i 


104 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


taking.  They  knew  well  of  the  hardships  of 
such  a  journey  in  the  Summer  season,  when  grass 
could  be  found  to  feed  the  stock,  and  men  live  in 
comfort  in  the  open  air.  But  to  all  their  plead- 
ings  and  specifications  of  danger,  Dr.  Whitman 
had  but  one  reply,  "  I  must  go."  As  Dr.  Eells 
says: — "They  finally  all  yielded  when  he  said,  I 
will  go,  even  if  I  have  to  break  my  connection 
with  the  American  Board."  They  all  loved  him, 
and  he  was  too  valuable  a  man  for  them  to  allow 
that. 

Besides,  they  became  thoroughly  convinced 
that  the  man  and  the  missionary  had  received  a 
call  from  a  higher  source  than  'in  earthly  one,  and 
a  missionary  board  should  not  stand  in  the  way. 
It  was  resolved  that  he  must  not  be  allowed  to 
make  such  a  journey  alone.  A  call  was  at  once 
made,  "Who  will  volunteer  to  go  with  him?" 
Again  the  unseen  power  was  experienced  when 
General  Lovejoy  said:  "I  will  go  with  Dr.  Whit- 
man." 

The  man  seems  to  have  been  sent  for  just 
such  a  purpose.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
tired  out  with  the  long  five  months'  ride  upon 
the  plains,  and  had  not  been  fully  rested,  no 
better  man  could  have  been  chosen.  He  was  an 
educated,  Christian  gentleman,  full  of  cheerful- 
ness, brave,  cautious,  and  a  true  friend. 

Mrs.  Whitman,  in  her  diary,  dwells  upon  this 
with  loving  thoughtfulness,  and  her  soul  breaks 


ftOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


108 


forth  in  thanksgiving  to  the  good  P'ather  above, 
who  has  sent  so  good  and  true  a  companion  lot 
the  long  and  dangerous  journey.  She  refers  tc 
it  again  and  again  that  he  will  have  a  friend  in 
his  hours  of  peril  and  danger,  and  not  have  to 
depend  entirely  upon  the  savages  for  his  society, 

The  conference  passed  a  resolution,  as  stated, 
giving  leave  of  absence  and  fixed  the  time  for 
his  starting  in  "five  days"  from  that  day.  It 
was  not  often  they  had  such  an  opportunity  for 
letter-carriers,  and  each  began  a  voluminous  cor- 
respondence. 

The  Doctor  set  about  his  active  preparations, 
arranging  his  outfit  and  seeing  that  everything 
was  in  order.  The  next  day  he  had  a  call  to  see 
a  sick  man  at  old  Fort  Walla  Walla,  and  as  he 
needed  many  articles  for  his  journey  which  could 
be  had  there,  he  went  with  this  double  purpose. 
He  found  at  the  Fort  a  score  or  more  of  traders, 
clerks  and  leadmg  men  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, assembled  there.  They  were  nearly  all 
Englishmen,  and  the  discussion  soon  turned  upon 
the  treaty,  and  the  outlook,  and  as  might  be  in- 
ferred, was  not  cheering  to  Whitman.  But  his 
object  was  to  gain  information  and  not  to  argue. 

The  dinner  was  soon  announced  and  the  Doc- 
tor sat  down  to  a  royal  banquet  with  his  jovial 
English  friends.  For  no  man  was  more  highly 
esteemed  by  all  than  was  Whitman.  The  chief 
factor  at  Vancouver,  Dr.  McLoughlin,  from  the 


106 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


II  \ 


very  outset  of  their  acquaintance,  took  a  liking 
to  both  the  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  and  in 
hundreds  of  cases  showed  them  marked  and 
fatherly  kindness.  Mrs.  Whitman,  in  her  diary, 
recently  published  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Ore- 
gon State  Historical  Society,  mainly  in  the  years 
1891  and  1893,  often  refers  to  the  fatherly  kind- 
ness of  the  good  old  man  whose  home  she  shared 
for  weeks  and  months,  and  he  begged  her  when 
first  reaching  Oregon  to  stop  all  Winter  and  wait 
until  her  own  humble  home  could  be  made  com- 
fortable. 

But  while  the  company  were  enjoying  their 
repast,  an  express  messenger  of  the  company  ar- 
rived from  Fort  Colville,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  up  the  Columbia,  and  electrified  his  audi- 
ence by  the  announcement  that  a  colony  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  Englishmen  and  Canadians 
were  on  the  road.     . 

In  such  a  company,  it  is  easy  to  see  such  an 
announcement  was  exciting  news.  One  young 
priest  threw  his  cap  in  the  air  and  shouted, 
"Hurrah  for  Oregon — America  is  too  late,  we 
have  got  the  country." 

Dr.  Whitman  carefully  concealed  all  his  in- 
tentions— in  fact  this  was  enjoined  upon  all  the 
missionary  band,  as  publicity  would  likely  defeat 
any  hope  of  good  results.  Those  who  will  take 
the  pains  to  read  Mrs.  Whitman's  diary,  will  no- 
tice how  she  avoids  saying  anything  to  excite 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


107 


comment  regarding  the  purposes  of  his  Winter 
visit  to  Washington.  In  her  letters  to  her  father 
and  mother  she  simply  says:  "I  expect  my  dear 
husband  will  be  so  full  of  his  great  work  that  he 
will  forget  to  tell  you  of  our  life  in  Oregon  He 
can  explain  what  it  is,"  etc. 

It  is  said  "Women  cannot  keep  a  secret,"  but 
here  is  an  instance  of  one  tb '-t  did.  In  his  ab- 
sence she  visited  Fort  Vancouver,  Astoria,  Ore- 
gon City,  and  other  points.  She  is  painstaking 
in  keeping  a  regular  record  of  every-day  events. 
But  the  secret  of  his  mission  to  the  States  was 
perfectly  safe  with  the  good  wife. 

As  soon  as  the  Doctor  could  with  politeness 
excuse  himself,  he  mounted  his  pony  and  gal- 
loped away  home,  pondering  the  news  he  had 
received.  By  the  time  he  reached  Waiilatpui  he 
resolved  there  must  be  no  tarrying  for  "five 
days."  On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  after 
the  conference,  the  spirit  was  upon  him,  and  he 
took  such  messages  as  were  ready,  and  on  Oc- 
tober 3rd,  1842,  bade  a  long  good-bye  to  his 
wife  and  home,  and  the  two  men,  their  guide 
and  three  pack  mules,  began  that  ever  memor- 
able journey — escorted  for  a  long  distance  by 
many  Cayuse  braves. 

Intelligent  readers  of  all  classes  can  easily 
mark  the  heroism  of  such  an  undertaking  under 
such  circumstances,  but  the  old  plainsman  and 
the  mountaineer  who  know  the  terrors  of  the 


II 


1  Ml.'!*' 


i,ii<' I'" 


I «  .,.1 


M 


106 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


: 


journey,  will  point  to  it  as  without  a  parallel  in 
all  history.  It  was  surmised  by  most  that  it  was 
"A  ride  down  to  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death." 

It  is  comforting  and  assuring  of  that  power 
which  sustains  a  believing  soul,  to  turn  the  pages 
of  the  diary  of  Mrs.  Whitman,  as  day  by  day  she 
follows  the  little  caravan  with  thought  and 
prayer,  and  see  with  what  confidence  she  ex- 
presses the  belief  that  an  Almighty  Arm  is 
guiding  her  loved  one  in  safety  through  all 
perils. 

It  is  easy  to  surmise  the  feelings  of  the  Mis- 
sionary band  when  they  sent  in  their  letters  and 
messages,  and  learned  that  the  Doctor  was  far 
on  his  )ourney  and  had  not  waited  the  required 
limit  of  "five  days." 

The  echo  of  dissatisfaction  was  heard  even 
for  years  after,  very  much  to  the  disturbance  of 
the  good  wife.  And  she  in  her  diary  expresses 
profound  thankfulness  when,  years  after,  the 
la*<t  vestige  of  criticism  ceased,  and  the  old  cor- 
diality was  restored. 

As  for  Dr.  Whitman,  with  his  whole  being 
imprcss'rd  with  the  importance  of  his  work  and 
the  ne'id  for  haste,  i:  is  doubtful  whether  he 
even  remembered  the  "five  days"  limit. 

The  ij^reat  thought  with  him  was,  I  must 
reach  V/ashington  before  Congress  adjourns,  or 
all  may  be  lost.    The  after  disclosures  convinced 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


109 


the  aggrieved  Missionaries  that  Whitman  was 
right,  and  they  deeply  regretted  some  of  the 
sharp  criticisms  they  made  and  wrote  East. 

With  horses  fresh,  the  little  company  made 
a  rapid  ride,  reaching  Fort  Hall  in  eleven  days. 
The  road  thus  far  was  plain  and  familiar  to 
every  member  of  the  party.  Prior  to  leaving 
home  there  had  been  rumors  that  the  Blackfoot 
Indians  had  suddenly  grown  hostile,  and  would 
make  the  journey  dangerous  along  the  regular 
line  of  travel. 

Upon  reaching  Fort  Hall,  Captain  Grant,  who 
seems  to  have  been  placed  at  that  point  solely 
to  discourage  and  defeat  immigration,  set  about 
his  task  in  the  usual  way.  Without  knowing,  he 
shrewdly  suspected  that  the  old  Missionary  had 
business  of  importance  on  hand  which  it  would 
be  well  to  thwart.  He  had  before  had  many  a 
tilt  with  Whitman  and  knew  something  of  his 
determination.  It  was  Grant  who  had  almost 
compelled  every  incoming  settler  to  forsake  his 
wagon  at  Fort  Hall,  sacrifice  his  goods,  and  force 
women  and  children  to  ride  on  horseback  or  go 
on  foot  the  balance  of  the  journey. 

Six  years  before  he  had  plead  with  Whit- 
man to  do  this,  and  had  failed,  and  Whitman 
had  thus  taken  the  first  wagon  into  Oregon 
that  ever  crossed  the  Rockies.  Now  he  set 
about  to  defeat  his  journey  to  the  States.  He 
told  of  the   hopelessness  of  a  journey   over  the 


■i>>  ('»■ 


■'\\  '  i 


I)! 


110 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


Rocky  Mountains,  with  snow  already  twenty  feet 
deep.  He  also  informed  him  that  from  recent 
advices  the  Sioux  and  Pawnee  Indians  were  at 
war,  Lnd  it  would  be  almost  certain  death  to  the 
party  to  undertake  to  pass  through  their  country. 

This,  all  told  for  a  single  purpose,  was  partly 
true  and  partly  false.  The  writer,  a  few  years 
after,  when  war  broke  out  between  the  Chey- 
ennes  and  the  Pawnees,  passed  entirely  through 
the  Cheyenne  country  and  was  treated  with  the 
utmost  courtesy  and  kindness  by  the  Cheyenne 
braves. 

But  Captain  Grant's  argument  had  more  ef- 
fect upon  Whitman  than  upon  a  former  occasion. 
The  Captain  even  began  to  hope  that  he  had 
effectually  blocked  the  way.  But  he  was  dealing 
with  a  man  of  great  grit,  not  easily  discouraged, 
and,  we  may  say  it  reverently,  an  inspired  man. 
He  had  started  to  go  to  the  States  and  he  would 
continue  his  journey. 

Captain  Grant  was  at  his  wits  end.  He  had 
no  authority  to  stop  Whitman  and  his  party;  he 
carried  with  him  a  permit  signed  by  "Lewis  Cass, 
Secretary  of  War,"  commanding  all  in  authority 
to  protect,  aid,  etc. 

The  American  Board  was  as  careful  in  having 
all  Oregon  Missionaries  armed  with  such  cre- 
dentials as  if  sending  them  to  a  foreign  land, 
and,  in  fact,  there  was  no  vestige  of  American 
government  in  Oregon  in  that  day.     The  Hud- 


\- 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


Ill 


son  Bay  Company,  wholly  English,  ruled  over 
everything,  whether  whites  or  Indians. 

Much  to  Captain  Grant's  chagrin,  Whitman, 
instead  of  turning  backward,  set  out  southeast  to 
discover  a  new  route  to  the  Spates.  He  knew  in 
a  general  way  the  lay  of  the  mountain  ranges, 
but  he  had  never  heard  that  a  white  man's  foot 
had  passed  that  way.  First  east  and  south  from 
Fort  Hall,  in  the  direction  of  the  now  present 
site  of  Salt  Lake  City,  from  tl  ence  to  Fort 
Uintah  and  Fort  Uncompahgra,  then  to  Taos, 
Santa  Fe,  to  Bents'  Fort,  and  St.  Louis.  This 
course  led  them  over  some  very  rough  moun- 
tainous country. 

In  his  diary  Gen.  Lovejoy  says,  "  From  Fort 
Hall  to  Fort  Uintah  we  met  with  terribly  severe 
weather.  The  deep  snow  caused  us  to  lose 
much  time.  Here  we  took  a  new  guide 
to  Fort  Uncompahgra  on  Grand  River  in 
Spanish  country,  which  we  safely  reached  and 
employed  a  new  guide  there  Passing  over  a 
high  mountainonourway  to  Taos  we  encountered 
a  terrible  snow  storm,  which  compelled  us  to 
seek  shelter  in  a  dark  defile,  and  although  we 
made  several  attempts  to  press  on,  we  were  de- 
tained some  ten  days.  When  we  got  upon  the 
mountain  again  we  met  with  another  violent 
snow  storm,  which  almost  blinded  man  and 
beast.  The  pelting  snow  and  cold  made  the 
dumb  brutes  well  nigh  unmanageable." 


I  ii 


112 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON 


Finally  the  guide  stopped  ana  acknowledged 
he  was  lost  and  would  go  no  farther,  and  they 
resolved  to  return  to  their  camp  in  the  sheltered 
ravine.  But  the  drifting  snow  had  obliterated 
every  sign  of  the  path  by  which  they  had  come, 
and  the  guide  acknowledged  that  he  could  not 
direct  the  way.  In  this  dire  dilemma,  says  Gen. 
Lovejoy,  "  Dr.  Whitman  dismounted  and  upon 
his  knees  in  the  snow  commended  himself,  his 
distant  wife,  his  missionary  companions  and  work, 
and  his  Oregon,  to  the  Infinite  One  for  guidance 
and  protection." 

"  The  lead  mule  left  to  himself  by  the  guide, 
turning  his  long  ears  this  way  and  that,  finally 
started  plunging  through  the  snow  drifts,  his 
Mexican  guide  and  all  the  party  following  instead 
of  guiding,  the  old  guide  remarking,  '  This 
mule  will  find  camp  if  he  can  live  long  enough  to 
reach  it.'  And  he  did."  As  woodsmen  well  know 
this  knowledge  of  directions  in  dumb  brutes  is 
far  superior  often  to  the  wisest  judgment  of 
men. 

The  writer  well  remembers  a  terrible  experi- 
ence when  lost  in  the  great  forests  of  Arkansas, 
covered  with  the  back  water  from  the  Mississippi 
River,  which  was  rapidly  rising.  Two  of  us  rode 
for  hours.  The  water  would  grow  deeper  in  one 
direction;  we  would  try  another  and  find  it  no 
better;  we  were  hopelessly  lost.  My  companion 
was  an  experienced  woodsman  and  claimed  that 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


113 


he  was  going  in  the  right  direction,  so  I  followed 
until  in  despair  I  called  to  him,  and  showed  him 
the  high  water  mark  upon  the  trees  ten  feet 
above  our  heads  as  we  sat  upon  our  horses. 

I  remarked,  "I  have  followed  you;  now  you 
follow  me.  I  am  going  to  let  my  old  horse  find 
the  way  out."  I  gave  him  the  rein;  he  seemed 
to  understand  it.  He  raised  his  head,  took  an 
observation,  turned  at  right  angles  from  the  way 
we  had  insisted  was  our  course,  wound  around 
logs  and  past  marshes,  and  in  two  hours  brought 
us  safely  to  camp. 

,  This  incident  of  Dr.  Whitman's  mule,  as  well 
as  all  such,  educates  one  in  kindn  '^s  to  all  dumb 
animal  life. 

Reaching  camp  the  guide  at  once  announced 
that,  "  I  will  go  no  farther;  the  way  is  impos- 
sible." "  This,"  says  General  Lovejoy,  "  was  a 
terrible  blow  to  Dr.  Whitman.  He  had  already 
lost  more  than  ten  days  of  valuable  time."  But 
it  would  be  impossible  to  move  without  a  guide. 
Whitman  was  a  man  who  knew  no  such  word  as 
fail.    His  order  was,  "  I  must  go  on." 

There  was  but  cae  thing  to  do.  He  said  to 
General  Lovejoy,  "  You  stay  in  camp  and  re- 
cuperate and  feed  the  stock,  and  I  will  return 
with  the  guide  to  Fort  Uncompahgra,  and  get  a 
new  man." 

And  so  Lovejoy  began  "recuperation,"  and 
recuperated  his  dumb  animals  by  collecting  the 

8 


1 !!«' 


1 


m 


114 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


brush  and  inner  bark  of  the  willows  upon  which 
they  fed.  It  is  astonishing  how  a  mule  or  horse 
on. the  plains  can  find  food  enough  to  live  on, 
under  such  conditions. 

The  writer  had  a  pet  mule  in  one  of  his  jour- 
neys over  the  great  plains,  which  he  would  tie  to 
a  sage  bush  near  the  tent  when  not  a  vestige  of 
grass  was  anywhere  in  sight,  and  yet  waking  up 
in  the  night  at  any  hour  I  would  hear  Ben  paw- 
ing and  chewing.  He  would  paw  up  the  tender 
roots  of  the  sage  and  in  the  morning  look  as 
plump  and  full  as  if  he  had  feasted  on  good  num- 
ber two  corn. 

"The  Doctor,"  says  Lovejoy,  "was  gone  just 
one  week,  when  he  again  reached  our  camp  in 
the  ravine  with  a  new  guide." 

The  storm  abated  and  they  passed  over  the 
mountain  and  made  good  progress  toward  Taos. 

Their  most  severe  experience  was  on  reach- 
ing Grand  River.  People  who  know,  mark  this 
as  one  of  the  most  dangerous  and  treacherous 
rivers  in  the  West.  Its  rapid,  deep,  cold  cur- 
rent, even  in  the  Summer,  is  very  much  dreaded. 
Hundreds  of  people  have  lost  their  lives  in  it. 
Where  they  struck  the  Grand  it  was  about  six 
hundred  feet  wide.  Two  hundred  feet  upon 
each  shore  was  solid  ice,  while  a  rushing  torrent 
two  hundred  feet  wide  was  between. 

The  guide  studied  it,  and  said,  "  It  is  too  dan- 
gerous to  attempt  to  cross."  "  We  must  cross,  and 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


15 


at  once,"  said  Whitman.  He  got  down  from  his 
horse,  cut  a  willow  pole  eight  feet  long,  put  it 
upon  his  shoulder,  and  after  remounting  said: 
"  Now  you  shove  me  off."  Lovejoy  and  the  guide 
did  as  ordered,  and  the  General  says,  "  Both 
horse  and  rider  temporarily  went  out  of  sight, 
but  soon  appeared,  swimming.  The  horse  struck 
the  rocky  bottom  and  waded  toward  the  shore 
where  the  Doctor,  dismounting,  broke  the  ice 
with  his  pole  and  helped  his  horse  out.  Wood 
was  plentiful  and  he  soon  had  a  roaring  fire.  As 
readers  well  know,  in  a  wild  country  where  the 
lead  animal  has  gone  ahead,  the  rest  are  eager 
to  follow,  regardless  of  danger,  and  the  General 
and  his  guide,  after  breaking  the  ice,  had  no 
difficulty  in  persuading  their  horses  and  pack- 
mules  to  make  the  plunge  into  the  icy  flood. 
They  all  landed  in  safety  and  spent  the  day  in 
thoroughly  drying  out. 

"Is  the  route  passable?"  asked  Napoleon  of 
his  engineer.  "Barely  possible,  sire,"  replied 
the  engineer.  "Then  let  the  column  move  at 
once,"  said  the  Great  Commander.  The  reader, 
in  the  incident  of  the  Grand  and  on  the  moun- 
tains, sees  the  same  hero  who  refused  to  believe 
the  "impossible"  of  Captain  Grant,  at  Fort  Hall, 
and  took  that  "  historic  wagon  "  to  Oregon.  It 
looked  like  a  small  event  to  take  a  wagon  to 
Oregon,  shattered  and  battered  by  the  rocks 
and  besetments  of  the  long  three  thousand  mile 


I  if 


116 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  ORBGON 


journey.  The  good  wife  many  times  mourned 
that  the  Doctor  should  "  Wear  himself  out  in 
getting  that  wagon  through."  "Yesterday,"  she 
says,  "  it  was  overset  in  the  river  and  he  was  we*- 
from  head  to  foot  getting  it  out;  to-day  it  was 
upset  on  the  mountain-side,  and  it  was  hard  work 
to  save  it."  The  dear  woman  did  not  know  it 
was  an  inspired  wagon,  the  very  implement  upon 
which  the  fate  of  Oregon  would  turn.  Small 
events  are  sometimes  portentous,  and  the  wagon 
that  Whitman  wheeled  into  Oregon,  as  we  shall 
soon  see,  was  of  this  character. 

One  of  the  Providential  events  was,  that  the 
little  company  had  been  turned  aside  from  the 
attempt  to  make  the  journey  over  the  direct 
route  and  sent  over  this  unexplored  course, 
fully  one  thousand  miles  longer.  The  Winter  of 
1842-43  was  very  cold,  and  the  snow  throughout 
the  West  was  heavy.  From  many  of  these 
storms  they  were  protected  by  the  ranges  of 
high  mountains,  and  what  was  of  great  value, 
had  plenty  of  firewood;  while  on  the  other  route 
for  a  thousand  miles  they  would  have  had  to 
depend  mainly  upon  buffalo  chips  for  fire, 
which  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  find 
when  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow.  To 
the  traveler  good  fires  in  camp  are  a  great  com- 
fort. 

Ev^n  as  it  was,  they  suffered  from  the 
cold,  all  of  them  being  severely  frosted.    Dr. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN-  SAVED  OREGON. 


117 


Whitman,  when  he  reached  Washington,  was  suf- 
fering from  frozen  feet,  hands  and  ears,  al- 
though he  had  taken  every  precaution  to  pro- 
tect himself  and  his  companions. 

The  many  vexatious  delays  had  caused  not 
only  the  loss  of  valuable  time,  but  they  had  run 
out  of  provisions.  A  dog  had  accompanied  the 
partj^  and  they  ate  him;  a  rnule  came  next, 
and  that  kept  them  until  they  came  to  Santa 
Fe,  where  there  was  plenty.  Santa  Fe  is  one  of  the 
oldest  cities  upon  the  continent  occupied  by 
English  speaking  people.  The  Doctor,  anxious 
for  news,  could  find  little  there,  and  only  stopped 
long  enough  to  recruit  his  supplies.  He  was 
in  no  mood  to  enjoy  the  antiquities  of  this  fa- 
mous resort  of  all  the  heroes  of  the  plains. 

Pushing  on  over  the  treeless  prairies,  they 
made  good  headway  towards  Bent's  Fort  on  the 
head  waters  of  the  Arkansas.  The  grass  for 
the  horses  was  plentiful.  That  is  one  of  the 
prime  requisites  of  the  campaigner  upon  the 
plains.  Had  there  been  time  for  hunting,  all 
along  their  route  they  could  have  captured  any 
amount  of  wild  game,  but  as  it  was,  they  at- 
tempted nothing  except  it  came  directly  in  the 
way.  They  even  went  hungry  rather  than  lose 
an  hour  in  the  chase. 

There  was  one  little  incident  which  may 
seem  very  small,  but  the  old  campaigner  will 
see   that  it  was  big  with  importance.     They  lost 


m 

V 


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I 


118 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OKEGON. 


their  axe.  It  was  after  a  long  tedious  day 
crossing  a  bleak  prairie,  when  they  reached  one 
of  the  tributaries  of  the  Arkansas  river.  On 
the  opposite  side  was  wood  in  great  plenty.  On 
their  side  there  was  none.  The  river  was  frozen 
over  with  smooth,  clear  ice,  scarcely  thick 
enough  to  bear  a  man.     They  must  have  wood. 

The  Doctor  seized  the  axe,  lay  down  on  the 
ice  and  snaked  himself  across  on  the  thin 
crust.  He  cut  loads  of  wood  and  pushed  it  be- 
fore him  or  skated  it  across  and  returned  in 
safety;  but  unfortunately  split  the  axe  heve. 
This  they  soon  remedied  by  binding  it  with  a 
fresh  deer  skin  thong.  But  as  it  lay  in  the  edge 
of  the  tent  that  night,  a  thieving  wolf  wanting 
the  deer  skin,  took  the  axe  and  all,  and  they 
could  find  no  trace  of  it.  The  great  good  for- 
tune was,  that  such  a  catastrophe  did  not  o^- 
cur  a  thousand  miies  back.  It  is  barely  pot. 
sible  it  might  have  defeated  the  enterprise. 

"When  within  about  four  days  journey  of 
Bent's  Fort,"  says  General  Lovejoy,  "we  met 
George  Bent,  a  brother  of  General  Bent,  with  a 
caravan  on  his  way  to  Taos.  He  told  us  that  a 
party  of  mountain  men  would  leave  Bent's  Fort 
in  a  few  days  for  St.  Louis,  but  said  we  could  not 
reach  the  Fort  with  our  pack  animals  in  time  to 
join  the  party." 

"The  Doctor  being  very  anxious  to  join  it  and 
push   on  to    Washington,    concluded    to    leave 


now   MARCUS   VVUITMAN   SAVliU  OKLGON. 


n\> 


myself  and  guide  with  the  packs,  and  he  himself 
taking  the  best  animal,  with  some  bedding  and  a 
small  allowance  of  provision,  started  on  alone, 
hoping  by  rapid  traveling  to  reach  the  Fort 
before  the  party  left.  But  to  do  so  he  would 
have  to  travel  upon  the  Sabbath,  something  we 
had  not  done  before." 

"Myself  and  guide  traveled  slowly  and 
reached  the  fort  in  four  days,  but  imagine  my 
astonishment  when  told  the  Doctor  had  not 
arrived  nor  been  heard  from.  As  this  portion 
of  the  journey  was  infested  by  gangs  of  gray 
wolves,  that  had  been  half  starved  during  the 
snows  and  cold  weather,  our  anxiety  for  the 
Doctor's  safety  was  greatly  increased.  Every 
night  our  camp  would  be  surrounded  by  them 
coming  even  to  the  door  of  the  tent,  and  every- 
thing eatable  had  to  be  carefully  stored  and  our 
animals  picketed  where  we  could  defend  them 
with  our  rifles;  when  a  wolf  fell  he  would 
instantly  be  devoured  by  his  fellows." 

"If  not  killed  we  knew  the  Doctor  was  lost. 
Being  furnished  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  Fort 
with  a  good  guide  I  started  to  search  for  him 
and  travelled  up  the  river  about  one  hundred 
miles.  I  learned  by  the  Indians  that  a  man  who 
was  lost  had  been  there  and  he  was  trying  to 
find  Bent's  Fort.  They  said  they  had  directed 
him  down  the  river  and  how  to  find  the  Fort.  I 
knew   from   their  description    that    it   was  the 


Ml 


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■  s 


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I    1 


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120 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


Doctor,  and  I  returned  as  rapidly  as  possible; 
but  he  had  not  arrived." 

"Late  in  the  afternoon  he  came  in  much 
fatigued  and  almost  desponding.  He  said  that 
God  had  hindered  him  for  traveling  on  the 
Holy  Sabbath."  Says  General  Lovejoy:  "This 
was  the  only  time  I  ever  knew  him  to  travel  on 
Sunday." 

The  party  which  the  Doctor  was  to  accom- 
pany to  St.  Louis  had  already  started,  but  was 
kindly  stopped  by  a  runner,  and  it  was  in  camp 
waiting  his  coming.  Tired  as  he  was,  he  tarried 
but  a  single  night  at  Fort  Bent,  and  again  with 
a  guide  hurried  on  to  overtake  the  caravan 
This  was  a  dangerous  part  of  the  journey.  Sav- 
age beasts  and  savage  men  were  both  to  be 
feared. 

In  pioneer  days  the  borders  of  civilization 
were  always  infested  by  the  worst  class  of  peo- 
ple, both  whites  and  Indians.  This  made  the 
Doctor  more  anxious  for  an  escort.  General 
Lovejoy  remained  at  the  Fort  until  he  entirely 
recovered  from  his  fatigue,  and  went  on  with 
the  next  caravan  passing  eastward  to  St.  Louis. 
In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Atkinson,  published  in  full  in 
the  appendix  to  this  volume,  General  Lovejoy 
recites  many  interesting  incidents  of  this  jour- 
ney. Before  reaching  St.  Louis,  General  Love- 
jo}''  immediately  began  to  advertise  the  emigra- 
tion for  the  following  May. 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


121 


Dr.  Barrows,  in  his  fine  volume  "Oregon — 
the  struggle  for  possession,"  says:  "Upon  the 
arrival  of  Dr.  Whitman  in  St.  Louis  it  was  my 
good  fortune  that  he  should  be  quartered  as  a 
guest  under  the  same  roof  and  at  the  same  table 
with  me."  Those  interested  in  the  news  from 
the  plains,  the  trappers  and  traders  in  furs  and 
Indian  goods,  gathered  about  him  and  beset  him 
with  a  multitude  of  questions.  Answering  them 
courteously  he  in  turn  asked  about  Congress. 
Whether  the  Ashburton  Treaty  had  been  con- 
cluded ?  and  whether  it  covered  the  Northwest 
territory  ?  The  treaty  he  learned  had  been 
signed  Aug.  9th  long  before  he  left  Oregon,  and 
had  been  confirmed  by  the  Senate  and  signed  by 
the  President  on  Nov.  loth,  while  he  was  floun- 
dering in  the  snow  upon  the  mountains." 

But  the  Oregon  question  was  still  open,  and 
only  the  few  acres  up  in  Maine  had  been  fixed. 
The  question  he  was  eager  to  have  answered 
was  "  Is  the  Oregon  question  still  pending,  and 
can  I  get  there  before  Congress  adjourns?" 
The  river  was  frozen,  and  he  Jhad  to  depend 
upon  the  stage,  and  even  from  St.  Louis  a  jour- 
ney to  Washington  in  mid-winter  at  that  time, 
was  no  small  matter.  But  to  a  man  like  Whit- 
man with  muscles  trained,  and  a  brain  which 
never  seemed  to  tire,  it  was  counted  as  nothing. 

Dr.  Barrows  says,  "  Marcus  Whitman  once 
seen,  and  in  our  family  circle,  telling  of  his  busi- 


>i  ■■  -1 


122 


now    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


!  i 


ncss,  he  had  but  one,  was  a  man  not  to  be  for- 
gotten by  the  writer.  He  was  of  medium  height, 
mare  compact  than  spare,  a  stout  shoulder,  and 
large  head  not  much  above  it,  covered  with  stiff 
iron  gray  hair,  while  his  face  carried  all  the 
moustache  and  whiskers  that  four  months  had 
been  able  to  put  on  it.  He  carried  himself 
awkwardly,  though  perhaps  courteously  enough 
for  trappers,  Indians,  mules  and  grizzlies,  his 
principal  company  for  six  years.  He  seemed 
built  as  a  man  for  whom  more  stock  had  been 
furnished  than  worked  in  symmetrically  and 
gracefully." 

"There  was  nothing  quick  in  his  motion  or 
speech,  and  no  trace  of  a  fanatic;  but  under  con- 
trol of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his  business,  and 
with  deep,  ardent  convictions  about  it,  he  was  a 
profound  enthusiast.  A  willtull  resolution  and  a 
tenacious  earnestness  would  impress  you  as 
marking  the  man." 

"He  wore  coarse  fur  garments  with  buckskin 
breeches.  He  had  a  buffalo  overcoat,  with  a 
head  hood  for  emergencies,  with  fur  leggins  and 
boot  moccasins.  His  legs  and  feet  fitted  his 
Mexican  stirrups.  If  my  memory  is  not  at  fault 
his  entire  dress  when  oa  the  street  did  not  show 
on(;  inch  of  woven  fabric." 

One  can  easily  see  that  a  dress  of  such  kind 
and  upon  such  a  man  would  attract  attention  at 
the  National   Capital      But  the  history  of  the 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


123 


event  nowhere  hints  that  the  old  pioneer  suf- 
fered in  any  quarter  from  his  lack  of  fashionable 
garments.  It  was  before  the  day  of  interview- 
ing newspapers,  but  the  men  in  authority  in 
Washington  soon  learned  of  his  coming  and 
showed  him  every  courtesy  and  kindness.  He 
would  have  been  lionized  had  he  encouraged  it. 
But  he  had  not  imperilled  life  for  any  such  pur- 
pose. He  was,  after  a  three  thousand  miles  ride, 
there  upon  a  great  mission  and  for  business,  and 
time  was  precious. 

Almost  in  despi^ir  he  had  prayed  that  he 
might  be  enabled  to  reach  the  Capital  of  the 
Nation  and  make  his  plea  for  his  land,  Oregon, 
before  it  was  too  late.  And  here  he  was. 
Would  \g  be  given  an  audience  ?  Would  he  be 
believed  ?  Would  he  succeed  ?  These  were 
the  questions  uppermost  in  his  mind. 


N 


I   m 


CHAPTER  VII. 


WHITMAN   IN   THE    PRESENCE    OF     PRESIDENT   TYLER    AND 

SECRETARY   OF   STATE    DANIEL   WEBSTER,     AND 

THE    RETURN   TO    OREGON. 


It  has  been  an  American  boast  that  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States  is  within  the  reach  of 
the  humblest  subject.  This  was  truer  years  ago 
than  now,  and  possibly  with  some  reason  for  it. 
Unfortunately  the  historian  has  no  recorded  ac- 
count of  the  interview  between  the  President, 
his  Secretary  of  State  and  Whitman.  Whitman 
worked  for  posterity,  but  did  not  write  for  it. 

For  his  long  journey  over  the  plains  in  1836 
and  the  many  entertaining  and  exciting  events 
we  are  wholly  dependent  upon  Mrs.  Whitman, 
and  for  the  narrative  of  the  perilous  ride  to  save 
Oregon,  we  are  dependent  upon  the  brief  notes 
made  by  General  Lovejoy,  and  from  personal 
talks  with  many  friends.  Whitman  always  seemed 
too  busy  to  use  pencil  or  pen,  and  yet  when  he 


124 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON, 


12o 


did  write,  as  a  few  recorded  specimens  show, 
he  was  remarkably  clear,  precise  and  forcible. 
But  while  we  have  no  written  statement  of  the 
celebrated  interview,' Dr.  Whitman,  in  many  pri- 
vate conversations  with  friends  in  Oregon  said 
,  enough  to  give  a  fair  and  clear  account  of  it. 
It  will  require  no  stretch  of  imagination  in 
any  intelligent  reader  to  suppose,  that  a  man  who 
had  undergone  the  hardships  and  perils  he  had, 
would  be  at  a  loss  how  to  present  his  case  in  the 
most  forcible  and  best  possible  method.  He 
was  an  educated  man,  a  profound  thinker;  and 
he  knew  every  phase  of  the  questions  he  had  to 
present,  and  no  man  of  discernment  could  look 
into  his  honest  eyes  and  upon  his  manly  bearing, 
without  acknowledging  that  they  were  in  the 
presence  of  the  very  best  specimen  of  American 
Christian  manhood. 

Both  President  Tyler  and  Secretary  of  State 
Daniel  Webster,  speedily  granted  him  an  audi- 
ence. Some  time  in  the  future  some  great  artist 
will  paint  a  picture  of  this  historic  event.  The 
old  pioneer,  in  his  leather  breeches  and  worn 
and  torn  fur  garments,  and  with  frozen  limbs, 
just  in  from  a  four  thousand  mile  ride,  is  a  pic- 
ture by  himself,  but  standing  in  the  presence  of 
the  President  and  his  great  Secretary,  to  plead 
for  Oregon  and  the  old  flag,  the  subject  for  a 
painter  is  second  to  none  in  American  history. 
Some  writers  have  said  that  Whitman  "  had 


III 


■■ 


wm 


n 


m 


;   tit. 


m; 


126 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


a  chilling  reception  from  Secretary  Webster." 
Of  this  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  proof.  It  has  also 
been  asserted  that  Whitman  assailed  the  Ash- 
burton-Webster  Treaty.  This  much  only  is  true, 
that  Whitman  regarded  the  issues  settled  as 
comparatively  insignificent  to  those  involved  in 
the  possession  and  boundaries  of  Oregon;  but 
he  was  profoundly  grateful  that  in  the  treaty, 
Oregon  had  in  no  way  been  sacrificed,  as  he  had 
feared. 

General  Lovejoy  says,  "  Dr.  Whitman  often 
related  to  me  during  our  homeward  jour:iey  the 
incidents  of  his  reception  by  the  President  and 
his  Secretary.  He  had  several  interviews  with 
both  of  them,  as  well  as  with  many  of  the  lead- 
ing senators  and  members  of  Congress."  The 
burden  of  his  speech  in  all  these,  says  General 
Lovejoy,  was  to  "immediately  terminate  the 
treaty  of  1818  and  1828,  and  extend  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  over  Oregon."  It  takes  a  most 
credulous  reader  to  doubt  that. 

For  months  prior  to  Whitman's  visit  to 
Washington  in  diplomatic  circles  it  was  well 
understood  that  there  were  negotiations  on  foot 
to  trade  American  interests  in  Oregon  for  the 
fisheries  of  Newfoundland.  Dr.  Whitman  soon 
heard  of  it,  and  heard  it  given  as  a  reason  why 
the  boundary  line  between  Oregon  and  the 
British  possessions  had  been  left  open  and  only 
the  little  dispute  in  Maine  adjusted. 


I;' 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


12'7 


According  to  all  reports  we  can  gather  from 
the  Doctor's  conversations,  there  was  only  one 
time  in  the  several  conferences  in  which  he  and 
Secretary  Webster  got  warm  and  crossed  swords. 
Secretary    Webster    had    received    castigation 
from  political  leaders,  and  sharp  criticism  from 
his  own  party  over  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  and 
was  ready  to  resent  every  remote  allusion  to  it, 
as  a    give    away    of  American    interests.      In 
defence    of    Secretary    Webster    it    has    been 
asserted  that "  he  had  no  intention  of  making 
such  an  exchange."     But  his  well-known  previ- 
ous views,  held  in  common  by  the  leading  states- 
men of  the  day,  already  referred  to,  and  openly 
expressed  in  Congress  and  upon  the  rostrum, 
that  "  Oregon  was  a  barren  worthless  country,  fit 
only  for  wild  beasts  and  wild  men,  gave  the  air  of 
truth    to   the    reportd    negotiation."     This  he 
emphasized  by  the  interruption  of  Whitman  in 
one  of  his  glowing  descriptions  of  Oregon,  by 
saying  in  effect  that  "Oregon  was  shut  off  by 
impassable  mountains  and  a  great  desert,  which 
made  a  wagon  road  impossible." 

Then,  says  Whitman,  I  replied,  "  Mr.  Secre- 
tary that  is  the  grand  mistake  that  has  been 
made  by  listening  to  the  enemies  of  American 
interests  in  Oregon.  Six  years  ago  I  was  told 
there  was  no  wagon  road  to  Oregon,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  take  a  wagon  there,  and  yet  in 
despite  of  pleadings  and  almost  threats,  I  took  a 


i'l 


m 


i   1; 


Hi; 


11 


S:,' 


M- 


128 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


|] 


j 


wagon  over  the  road,  and  have  it  now."  This 
was  the  historic  wagon.  It  knocked  all  the 
argument  out  of  the  great  Secretary.  Facts  are 
stubborn  things  to  meet,  and  when  told  by  a 
man  like  Whitman  it  is  not  difificult  to  imagine 
their  effect. 

He  assured  the  Secretary  that  the  possibili- 
ties of  the  territory  beyond  the  Rockies  were 
boundless,  that  under  the  poorest  cultivation 
everything  would  grow;  that  he  had  tested  a 
variety  of  crops  and  the  soil  made  a  wonderful 
yield.  That  not  only  is  the  soil  fertile,  the  cli- 
mate healthful  and  delightful,  but  there  is  every 
evidence  of  the  hills  and  mountains  being  rich  in 
ores;  while  the  great  forests  are  second  to  none 
in  the  world.  But  it  was  the  battered  old  wagon 
that  was  the  clinching  argument  that  could  not 
be  overcome.  No  four  wheeled  vehicle  ever 
before  in  history  performed  such  notable  service. 
The  real  fact  was,  the  Doctor  took  it  into  Oregon 
on  two  wheels,  but  he  carefully  hauled  the  other 
two  wheels  inside  as  precious  treasures.  He 
seems  to  have  had  a  prophetic  view  of  the  value 
of  the  first  incoming  wagon  from  the  United 
States.    The  events  show  his  wisdom. 

Proceeding  with  his  argument  Dr.  Whitman 
said:  "Mr.  Secretary  you  had  better  give  all 
New  England  for  the  cod  and  mackerel  fisheries 
of  New  Foundland  than  to  barter  away  Oregon." 

From    the    outset,   and   at    every    audience 


tu 

H 

UJ 


Oi 


03 

U 

UJ 


OS. 
UJ 


UJ 


in 

UJ 

OS 


UJ 

O 
u. 

UJ 
CO 


O 

UJ 


Oi 


o 


UJ 


*ni 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


129 


granted,  President  Tyler  treated  Dr.  Whitman 
with  the  greatest  deference.  He  was  a  new 
character  in  the  experience  of  both  these 
polished  and  experienced  politicians.  Never 
before  had  they  listened  to  a  man  who  so  elo^ 
quently  plead  for  tho  cause  of  his  country,  with 
no  selfish  aim  in  sight.  He  asked  for  no  money, 
or  bonds,  or  land,  or  office,  or  anything,  except 
that  which  would  add  to  the  nation's  wealth,  the 
glory  and  honor  of  the  flag,  and  the  benefit  of 
the  hardy  pioneer  of  that  far-off  land,  that  the 
nation  had  for  more  than  a  third  of  the  century 
wholly  neglected.  It  was  a  powerful  appeal  to 
the  manly  heart  of  President  Tyler,  and  as  the 
facts  show,  was  not  lost  on  Secretary  Webster. 

The  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding,  Whitman's  early 
associate  in  the  Oregon  work,  had  many  confer- 
ences with  Whitman  after  his  return  to  Oregon. 
Spalding  says,  speaking  of  the  conference: 
"Webster's  interest  lay  too  near  to  Cape  Cod  to 
see  things  as  Whitman  did,  while  he  conceded 
sincerity  to  the  Missionary,  but  he  was  loth  to 
admit  that  a  six  years'  residence  there  gave 
Whitman  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  country 
than  that  possessed  by  Governor  Simpson,  who 
had  explored  every  part  of  it  and  represented  it  as 
a  sandy  desert,  cut  off  from  the  United  States  by 
impassable  mountains,  and  fit  only  for  wild  ani- 
mals and  savage  men." 

With  the  light  we  now  have  upon  the  subject 

9 


lao 


now  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


the  greater  wonder  is  that  a  brainy  man  like 
Webster  could  be  so  over-reached  by  an  inter- 
ested party  such  as  Governor  Simpson  was;  well 
knowing  as  he  did,  that  he  was  the  chief  of  the 
greatest  monopoly  existing  upon  either  conti- 
nent— the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  All  Dr. 
Whitman  demanded  was  that  if  it  were  true,  as 
asserted  by  Mr.  Webster  himself,  in  his  instruc- 
tions to  Edward  Everett  in  1840,  then  Minister 
to  England,  that  "The  ownership  of  Oregon  is 
very  likely  to  follow  the  greater  settlement  and 
larger  amount  of  population;"  then  "All  I  ask  is 
that  you  won't  barter  away  Oregon,  or  allow 
English  interference  until  I  can  lead  a  band  of 
stalwart  American  settlers  across  the  plains: 
For  this  I  will  try  to  do." 

President  Tyler  promptly  and  positively 
stated,  "Dr.  Whitman,  your  long  ride  and  frozen 
limbs  speak  for  your  courage  and  patriotism; 
your  missionary  credentials  are  good  vouchers 
for  your  character."  And  he  promptly  granted 
his  request.  Such  promise  was  all  that  Whit- 
man required.  He  firmly  believed,  as  all  the 
pioneers  of  Oregon  at  that  time  believed,  that 
the  treaty  of  1S18,  while  not  saying  in  direct 
terms  that  the  nationality  settling  the  country 
should  hold  it,  yet  that  that  was  the  real  mean- 
ing. Both  countries  claimed  the  territory,  and 
England  with  the  smallest  rightful  claim  had, 
through  the  Hudson    Bay   Company,   been  the 


HOW  MAKCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OKEGON. 


131 


supreme   autocratic  ruler  for  a  full  third  of  a 
century. 

More  than  half  a  dozen  fur  companies, 
attracted  to  Oregon  by  the  wealth  flowing  into 
the  coffers  of  the  English  company,  had  at- 
tempted, as  we  have  before  shown,  to  open  up 
business  on  what  they  claimed  was  American 
soil;  but,  in  every  instance,  they  were  starved 
out  or  bought  out  by  the  English  company.  The 
Indians  obeyed  its  order  ,  and  even  the  American 
Missionaries  settled  in  just  the  localities  they 
were  ordered  to  by  the  English  monopoly.  In 
another  connection  we  have  more  fully  explained 
this  treaty  of  1818,  but,  suffice  it  to  say,  these 
conditions  led  Whitman  to  believe  that  the  only 
hope  of  saving  Oregon  was  in  American  immi- 
gration. It  was  for  this  that  he  plead  with 
President  Tyler  and  Secretary  Webster  and  the 
members  of  Congress  he  met. 

From  the  President  he  went  to  the  Hon 
James  M.  Porter,  Secretary  of  War,  and  by  him 
was  received  with  the  greatest  kindness,  and  he 
eagerly  heard  the  whole  story.  He  promised 
Dr.  Whitman  all  the  aid  in  his  power  in  his 
scheme  of  immigration.  He  promised  that 
Captain  Fremont,  with  a  company  of  troops, 
should  act  as  escort  to  the  caravan  which 
Whitman  was  positive  he  could  organize  upon 
the  frontier.  The  Secretary  of  War  also  inquired 
in  what  way  he  and  the  Government  could  aid 


s 


132 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


the  pioneers  in  the  new  country,  and  asked  Dr. 
Whitman,  at  his  leisure,  to  write  out  his  views, 
and  forward  them  to  him.  Dr.  Whitman  did 
this,  and  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Oregon 
did  excellent  service,  recently,  in  publishing 
Whitman's  proposed  "  Oregon  Organization," 
found  among  the  official  papers  of  the  War 
Department,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  found  in  the 
appendix  of  this  volume. 

In  a  Senate  document,  December  31st,  viz., 
the  41st  Cong.,  February  9th,  1871,  we  read  : 
"  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  arrival  of  Dr. 
Whitman,  in  1843,  was  opportune.  The  Presi- 
dent was  satisfied  that  the  territory  was  worth 
the  effort  to  win  it.  The  delay  incident  to  e. 
transfer  of  negotiations  to  London  was  fortunate, 
for  there  is  reason  to  believe  th:it  if  former  nego- 
tiations had  been  renewed  in  Washington,  and 
that,  for  the  sake  of  a  settlement  of  the  pro- 
tracted controversy  and  the  only  remaining  un- 
adjudicated  cause  of  difference  between  the  two 
Governments,  the  offer  had  been  renewed  of  the 
49th  parallel  to  the  Columbia  and  thence  down 
the  river  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  it  would  have  been 
accepted.  The  visit  of  Whitman  committed  the 
President  against  any  such  action."  This  is  "a 
clear  statement,  summarizing  the  great  historic 
event,  and  forever  silencing  effectually  the  slan- 
derous tongues  that  have,  in  modern  times, 
attempted  to  deprive  the  old  Hero  of  his  great 
and  deserving  tribute.  , 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


183 


We  will  do  Secretary  Webster  the  justice  to 
say  here,  that  in  his  later  years,  he  justly 
acknowledged  the  obligations  of  the  nation  to 
Dr.  Whitman.  In  the  New  York  Independent, 
for  January,  1870,  it  is  stated  :  "  A  personal 
friend  of  Mr.  Webster,  a  legal  gentleman,  and 
with  whom  he  conversed  on  the  subject  several 
times,  remarked  to  the  writer  of  this  article  :  'It 
is  safe  to  assert  that  our  country  owes  it  to  Dr. 
Whitman  and  his  associate  Missionaries  that  all 
the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
south  as  far  as  the  Columbia  river,  is  not  now 
owned  by  England  and  held  by  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company.'  " 

Having  transacted  his  business  and  succeeded 
even  beyond  his  expectations,  Whitman  hurried 
to  Boston  to  report  to  the  headquarters  of  the 
American  Board.  His  enemies  have  often  made 
sport  over  their  version  of  his  "  cool  reception 
by  the  American  Board."  If  there  was  a  severe 
reprimand,  as  reported,  both  the  Officers  of  the 
Board  and  Dr.  Whitman  failed  to  make  record 
of  it.  But  enough  of  the  facts  leaked  out  in  the 
years  after  to  show  that  it  was  not  altogether  a 
harmonious  meeting.    It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 

The  American  Board  was  a  religious  organ- 
ization working  under  fixed  rules,  and  expected 
every  member  in  every  field  to  obey  those 
rules.  But  here  was  a  man,  whose  salary  had 
been  paid  by  the  Board  for  special  work,  away 


;; 


'ill 


184 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


i*^ 


from  his  field  of  labor  without  the  consent  from 
headquarters.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  he 
was  severely  reprimanded.  The  Officers  of  the 
American  Board  had  no  reason  to  know,  as 
Christian  people  can  see  now,  thaL  Whitman  was 
an  inspired  man,  and  a  man  about  his  Father's 
business.  It  is  even  reported,  but  not  vouched 
for,  that  they  ordered  him  to  promptly  repair  to 
his  post  of  duty,  and  dismissed  him  with  his 
pockets  so  empty,  that,  when  starting  upon  his 
ever-memorable  return  journey  across  the  plains, 
"  He  had  but  money  enough  to  buy  only  a  single 
ham  for  his  supplies." 

One  of  his  old  associates  who  had  frequent 
conferences  with  Whitman  —  Dr.  Gray —  says : 
"  Instead  of  being  treated  by  the  American  Board 
as  his  labors  justly  deserved,  he  met  the  cold, 
calculating  rebuke  for  unreasonable  expenses, 
and  for  dangers  incurred  without  orders  or 
instructions  or  permission  from  headquarters. 
Thus,  for  economical,  prudential  reasons,  the 
Board  received  him  coldly,  and  rebuked  him  for 
his  presence  before  them,  causing  a  chill  in  his 
warm  and  generous  heart,  and  a  sense  of 
unmerited  rebuke  from  those  who  should  have 
been  most  willing  to  listen  to  all  his  statements, 
and  been  most  cordial  and  ready  to  sustain  him 
in  his  herculean  labors."  We  leave  intelligent 
niaders  to  answer  for  themselves,  whether  this 
attitude  of  this  great  and  influential  and  excel- 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


185 


lent  organization  has  not  been,  in  a  measure, 
responsible  for  the  neglect  of  this  Hero,  who 
served  it  and  the  Christian  world  with  all  faith- 
fulness and  honesty,  until  he  and  his  noble  wife 
dropped  into  their  martyr  graves  ?  If  they  say 
yea,  we  raise  the  question  whether  the  time  has 
not  been  reached  to  make  amends  ? 

Dr.  Barrows  says,  in  his  "Oregon  and  the 
Struggle  for  Possession,"  "  It  should  be  said  in 
apology  for  both  parties  at  this  late  day  that,  at 
that  time,  the  Oregon  Mission  and  its  managing 
Board  were  widely  asunder  geographically,  and 
as  widely  separated  in  knowledge  of  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs."  Dr.  Whitman  seems  to  have  as- 
sumed that  his  seven  years'  residence  on  the 
Northwest  Coast  would  gain  him  a  trustful  hear- 
ing. But  his  knowledge  gave  him  the  disadvan- 
tage of  a  position  and  plans  too  advanced — not 
an  uncommon  mishap  to  eminent  leaders.  As 
said  by  Coleridge  of  Milton,  "  He  strode  so  far 
before  his  contemporaries  as  to  dwarf  himself  by 
the  distance." 

He  adds  that: 

"  Years  after  only,  »t  was  discovered  by  one 
of  the  officers  of  the  American  Board,"  that  "  It 
was  not  simply  an  American  question  then  set- 
tled, but  at  the  same  time  a  Protestant  question." 
He  also  refers  to  a  recent  work,  "  The  Ely  Vol- 
ume," in  which  is  discussed  the  question,  "In- 
stances where  the  direct  influence  of  miosionaries 


I 

V 

1 


i 


186 


HOW  MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


has  controlled  and  hopefully  shaped  the  destinies 
of  communities  and  states/'  and  illustrates  by 
saying,  "  Perhaps  no  event  in  the  history  of  mis- 
sions will  better  illustrate  this  than  the  way  in 
which  Oregon  and  our  whole  Northwest  Pacific 
Coast  was  saved  to  the  United  States." 

This  covered  directly  the  Whitman  idea.  It 
was,  as  he  before  stated,  a  union  of  banners. 
The  banner  of  the  cross,  and  the  banner  of  the 
country  he  loved.  It  took  the  spirit  and  love  of 
both  to  sustain  a  man  and  to  enable  him  to 
undergo  the  hardship*:  and  dangers  and  discour- 
agements that  he  met,  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end. 

From  Boston,  with  an  aching  heart,  and  yet 
doubtless  serene  over  an  accomplished  duty, 
which  iac  had  faith  to  believe  time  would  reveal 
in  its  real  light,  Dr.  Whitman  passed  on  to  make 
a  flying  visit  to  his  own  and  his  wife's  relations. 
From  letters  of  Mrs.  Whitman,  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  her  prophecy  was  true;  "  He  would  be  too 
full  of  his  great  work  on  hand,  to  tell  much  of 
the  home  in  Oregon."  His  visit  was  hurried 
over  and  seemed  more  the  necessity  of  a  great 
duty  than  a  pleasure. 

But  the  Doctor's  inind  was  westward.  He  had 
learned  from  General  Lovejoy  that  already 
there  was  gathering  upon  the  frontier  a  goodly 
number  of  immigrants  and  the  prospect  was  ex- 
cellent for  a  large  caravan.    In  the  absence  of 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


137 


Dr.  Whitman,  General  Lovejoy  had  neglected 
no  opportunity  to  publish  far  and  wide  that  Dr. 
Whitman  and  himself  would,  early  in  the  Spring, 
pilot  across  the  plains  to  Oregon,  a  body  of  im- 
migrants. A  rendezvous  was  appointed,  not  far 
from  where  Kansas  City  now  stands,  at  the 
little  town  of  Weston.  But  they  were  in  various 
camps  at  Fort  Leavenworth  and  other  points, 
waiting  both  for  their  guide  and  for  the  growing 
spring  grass — a  necessity  for  the  emigrant. 

Certain  modern  historians  have  undertaken 
to  rob  Whitman  of  his  great  services  in  1843,  by 
gathering  affidavits  of  people  who  emigrated  to 
Oregon  in  that  year,  declaring,  "  We  never  saw 
Marcus  Whitman,"  and  "  We  were  not  persuaded 
to  immigrate  to  Oregon  by  him,"  etc.  Doubt- 
less there  were  such  upon  the  wide  plains,  scat- 
tered as  they  may  have  been,  hundreds  of  miles 
apart.  But  it  is  just  as  certain  that  the  large  im- 
migration to  Oregon  that  year  was  incited  by  the 
movements  of  Whitman  and  Lovejoy,  as  any 
fact  could  be.  There  is  no  other  method  of  ex- 
plaining it.  That  he  directly  influenced  every 
immigrant  of  that  year,  no  one  has  claimed. 

True,  old  Elijah  White  had  paved  the  way, 
the  year  before,  by  leading  in  the  first  large  band 
of  agriculturist  settlers;  but  men  of  families,  un- 
dertaking a  two  thousand  mile  journey,  with  their 
families  and  their  stock,  were  certainly  desirous 
of  an  experienced  guide.    They  may,  as  some  of 


138 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


them  say,  never  have  met  Whitman.  He  was 
not  one  of  the  free  and  easy  kind  that  made  {  im- 
self  popular  with  the  masses. 

Then  besides  all  that,  fifty  years  ago  plains 
life  was  an  odd  life.  I  have  journeyed  with  men 
for  weeks,  and  even  after  months  of  acquaint- 
ance have  not  known  their  names,  except  that  of 
Buckeye,  Sucker,  Missouri,  Cass  County  Bill, 
Bob,  etc.  Little  bands  would  travel  by  them- 
selves for  days  and  weeks  and  then,  under  the 
sense  of  danger  that  would  be  passed  along  the 
line,  and  for  defense  against  depredations  of 
some  dangerous  tribe  of  Indians,  they  would 
gather  into  larger  bands  soon  again  to  fall  apart. 
Some  of  these  would  often  follow  many  days 
behind  the  head  of  the  column,  but  always  have 
the  benefit  of  its  guidance. 

That  year  grass  was  late,  and  they  did  not 
get  fully  under  way  until  the  first  week  in  June. 
Whitman  remained  behind  and  did  not  over- 
take the  advance  of  the  column  until  it  reached 
the  Platte  River.  He  knew  the  way,  he  had 
three  times  been  over  it.  He  was  ahead  ar- 
ranging for  camping  places  for  those  in  his  im- 
mediate company,  or  in  the  rear  looking  after 
the  sick  and  discouraged.  If  some  failed  to 
know  him  by  name,  there  were  many  who  did, 
and  all  shared  in  all  the  knowledge  of  the  coun- 
try and  road  which  he,  better  than  any  other, 
knew. 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


139 


In  answer  to  historical  critics  of  modern 
times  we  quote  Dr.  H.  H.  Spalding,  who  says,  in 
speaking  of  the  immigration  of  1843: 

"And  through  that  whole  summer  Dr.  Whit- 
man was  everywhere  present;  the  ministering 
angel  to  the  sick,  helping  the  weary,  encouraging 
the  wavering,  cheering  the  tired  mothers,  setting 
broken  bones  and  mending  wagons.  He  was  in 
the  front,  in  the  center  and  in  the  rear.  He 
was  in  the  river  hunting  out  fords  through  the 
quicksand;  in  the  desert  places  looking  for 
water  and  grass;  among  the  mountains  hunting 
for  passes,  never  b'efore  trodden  by  white  men; 
at  noontide  and  at  midnight  he  was  on  the  ale  t 
as  if  the  whole  line  was  his  own  family,  and  as 
if  all  the  flocks  and  herds  were  his  own.  For 
all  this  he  neither  asked  nor  expected  a  dollar 
from  any  source,  and  especially  did  he  feel  re- 
paid at  the  end,  when,  standing  at  his  mission 
home,  hundreds  of  his  fellow  pilgrims  took  him 
by  the  hand  and  thanked  him  with  tears  in 
their  eyes  for  all  that  he  had  done." 

The  head  of  the  column  arrived  at  Fort  Hall 
and  there  waited  for  the  stragglers  to  come  up. 
Dr.  Whitman  knew  that  here  he  would  meet 
Captain  Johnny  Grant,  and  the  old  story,  "You 
can't  take  a  wagon  into  Oregon,"  would  be 
dinned  into  the  ears  of  the  head  of  every  family. 
He  had  heard  it  over  and  over  again  six  years 
before.  Fort  Hall  was  thirteen  hundred  and 
twenty-three  miles  from  the  Missouri  River  at 


IP  I 

3  1 


i'  I 


140 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Kansas  City.  Here  the  Doctor  expected  trouble 
and  found  it.  Johnny  Grant  was  at  Fort  Hall  to 
make  trouble  and  discourage  immigration.  He 
was  working  under  the  pay  of  the  Fur  Company 
and  earned  his  money.  The  Fur  Company  did 
not  desire  farmers  in  settlements  in  Oregon. 

Captain  Grant  at  once  began  to  tell  them 
the  terrors  of  the  mountain  journey  and  the  im- 
possibility of  hauling  their  wagons  further. 
Then  he  showed  them,  to  prove  it,  a  corral  full 
of  fine  wagons,  with  agricultural  tools,  and  thou- 
sands of  things  greatly  needed  in  Oregon,  that 
immigrants  had  been  forced  to  leave  when  they 
took  to  their  pack  saddles.  The  men  were 
ready,  as  had  been  others  before,  to  give  up  and 
sacrifice  the  comforts  of  their  families  and  rob 
themselves  at  the  command  of  the  oily  advo- 
cate. 

But  here  comes  Whitman.  Johnny  Grant 
knows  he  now  has  his  master.  Dr.  Whitman 
says:  "Men,  I  have  guided  you  thus  far  in 
safety.  Believe  nothing  you  hear  about  not  be- 
ing able  to  get  your  wagons  through;  every  one 
of  you  stick  to  your  wagons  and  your  goods. 
They  will  be  invaluable  to  you  when  you  reach 
the  end  of  your  journey.  I  took  a  wagon  through 
to  Oregon  six  years  ago."  (Again  we  see  the 
historic  wagon.)  The  men  believed  him.  They 
refused  to  obey  Captain  Grant's  touching  ap- 
peal and  almost   a  command  to    leave    their 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Ul 


wagons  behind.  Never  did  an  order,  than  the 
one  Whitman  made,  add  more  to  the  comfort 
and  actual  value  of  a  band  of  travellers. 

One  of  a  former  company  tells  of  a  pi  eking 
experience,  after  submitting  to  Captain  Grant's 
orders.  He  says:  "There  were  lively  times 
around  old  Fort  Hall  when  the  patient  old  oxen 
and  mules  were  taken  from  the  wagons  to  be 
left  behind  and  the  loads  of  bedding,  pots  and 
pans  were  tied  on  to  their  backs.  They  were 
unused  to  such  methods.  There  would  first  be  a 
shying,  then  a  fright  and  a  stampede,  and  bel- 
lowing oxen  and  braying  mules  and  the  air 
would  be  full  of  flying  kettles  and  camp  fixtures, 
while  women  and  children  crying  and  the  men 
swearing,  made  up  a  picture  to  live  in  the 
memory." 

No  one  better  than  Whitman  knew  the  toil 
and  danger  attending  the  last  six  hundred  miles 
of  the  journey  to  Oregon.  Colonel  George  B. 
Curry,  in  an  address  before  the  pioneer  Society 
of  Oregon  in  1887,  gives  a  graphic  sketch, 
wonderfully  realistic,  of  the  immigrant  train  in 
1853.  He  says:^  "From  the  South  Pass  the 
nature  of  our  journeying  changed,  and  assumed 
the  character  of  a  retreat,  a  disastrous,  ruinous 
retreat.  Oxen  and  horses  began  to  perish  in 
large  numbers;  often  falling  dead  in  their  yokes 
in  the  road.  The  heat-dried  wagon,  striking  on 
the  rocks  or  banks  would  fall  to  pieces.    As  the 


1:    J 

I.    \ 


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142 


now   MAKCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   ORKGON. 


beasts  of  burden  grew  weaker,  and  the  wagon 
more  rickety,  teams  began  to  be  doubled  and 
wagons  abandoned.  The  approaching  storms  of 
autumn,  which,  on  the  high  mountains  at  the  last 
end  of  our  journey,  meant  impassable  snow,  admit- 
ted of  no  delay.  Whatever  of  strength  remained 
of  the  jaded  cattle  must  be  forced  out.  Every 
thing  of  weight  not  absolutely  necessary  must 
be  abandoned." 

"There  was  no  time  to  pause  and  recruit  the 
hungry  stock,  nor  dare  we  allow  them  much  free- 
dom to  hunt  the  withered  herbage,  for  a  maraud- 
ing enemy  hung  upon  the  rear,  hovering  on 
either. flank,  and  skulked  in  ambuscade  in  the 
front,  the  horizon  was  a  panorama  of  mountains, 
the  grandest  and  mort  desolate  on  the  continent. 
The  road  was  strewn  with  dead  cattle,  aban- 
doned wagons,  discarded  cookirg  utensils,  ox- 
yokes,  harness,  chairs,  mess  chests,  log  chains, 
bocks,  heirlooms,  and  family  keepsakes.  The 
inexorable  surroundings  of  the  struggling  mass 
permitted  no  hesitation  or  sentiment." 

"The  failing  strength  of  the  team  was  a 
demand  that  must  be  complied  with.  Clothing 
not  absolutely  required  at  present  was  left  on 
the  bare  rocks  of  the  rugged  canyons.  Wagons 
were  coupled  shorter  that  a  few  extra  pounds 
might  be  saved  from  the  wagon  beds.  One  set 
of  wheels  was  left  and  a  cart  constructed.  Men, 
women  and  children  walked  beside  the  enfeebled 


HOW  MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


148 


teams,   ready  to  give  an  assistinc;   push   up  a 
steep  pitch." 

"The  fierce  summer's  heat  beat  upon  this 
slow  west  rolling  column.  The  herbage  was  dry 
and  crisp,  the  rivulets  had  become  but  lines  .'  . 
the  burning  sand;  the  sun  glared  from  a  sky  of 
brass;  the  stony  mountain  sides  glared  v/'>h  the 
garnered  heat  of  a  cloudless  Summer.  The 
dusky  bramh'.es  of  the  scraggy  sage  brush 
seemed  to  catch  the  fiery  rays  of  heat  and 
shiver  them  into  choking  dust,  that  rose  like  a 
tormenting  plague  and  hung  like  a  demon  of 
destruction  over  the  panting  oxen  and  thirsty 
people." 

"Thus  day  after  day,  for  weeks  and  months, 
the  slow  but  urgent  retreat  continued,  each  day 
demanding  fresh  sacrifices.  An  ox  or  a  horse 
would  fall,  brave  men  would  lift  the  useless  yoke 
from  his  limp  and  lifeless  neck  in  silence.  If  there 
was  another  to  take  his  place  he  was  brought 
from  the  loose  band,  yoked  up  and  the  journey 
resumed.  When  the  stock  of  oxen  became 
exhausted,  cows  were  brought  under  the  yoke, 
other  wagons  left,  and  the  lessening  store  once 
more  inspected;  if  possible,  another  pound 
would  be  dispensed  with." 

"Deeper  and  deeper  into  the  flinty  moun- 
tains the  forlorn  mass  drives  its  weary  way. 
Each  morning  the  weakened  team  has  to  com- 
mence a  struggle  with  yet  greater  difficulties.     It 


I'l 


I    . 


1         |: 
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I'    '■      ■ 


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Hi 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


is  plain  the  journey  will  not  be  completed  within 
the  anticipated  time,  and  the  dread  of  hunger 
joins  the  ranks  of  the  tormentors.  The  stench 
of  carrion  fills  the  air  in  many  places;  a  watering 
place  is  reached  to  find  the  putrid  carcass  of  a 
dead  animal  in  the  spring.  The  Indians  hover 
in  the  rear,  impatiently  awaiting  for  the  train  to 
move  on  that  the  abandoned  trinkets  may  be 
gathered  up.  Whether  these  are  gathering 
strength  for  a  general  attack  we  cannot  tell. 
There  is  but  one  thing  to  do — press  on.  The 
retreat  cannot  hasten  into  rout,  for  the  dis- 
tance to  safety  is  too  great.  Slower  and  slower 
is  daily  progress." 

"I  do  not  pretend  to  be  versed  in  all  the  hor- 
rors that  have  made  men  groan  on  earth,  but  I 
have  followed  the  "  Flight  of  Tartar  Tribes,"  un- 
der the  focal  light  of  DeQuincy's  genius,  the  re- 
treat of  the  ten  thousand  under  Xenophon,  but 
as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  in  heroism,  endur- 
ance, patience  and  suffering,  the  annual  retreat 
of  immigrants  from  the  Black  Hills  to  the 
Dalles  surpasses  either.  The  theater  of  their 
sufferings  and  success,  for  scenic  grandeur  has 
no  supe/ior." 

"The  patient  endurance  of  these  men  and  wo- 
men for  sublime  pathos  may  challenge  the 
world.  Men  were  impoverished  and  women  re- 
duced to  beggary  and  absolute  want,  and  no 
weakling's   murmur  of  complaint  escaped  their 


REV.  H.  H.  SPALDING. 


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HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


145 


lips.  It  is  true,  when  women  saw  their  patient 
oxen  or  faithful  horses  fall  by  the  roadside  and 
die,  they  wept  piteously,  and  men  stood  in  all  the 
"silent  manliness  of  grief"  in  the  camp  of  their 
desolation,  for  the  immigrants  were  men  and 
women  with  hearts  to  feel  and  tears  to  flow." 

This  it  will  be  observed,  was  a  train  upon 
the  road  ten  years  later  than  Dr.  Whitman's 
memorable  journey.  He  was  a  wise  guide,  and 
his  train  met  with  fewer  disasters.  The  Hon.  S. 
A.  Clarke  in  his  address  tells  how  Whitman 
moved  his  train  across  Snake  River. 

He  says:  "When  the  immigrants  reached 
the  Snake,  Dr.  Whitman  proceeded  to  fasten 
wagons  together  in  one  long  string,  the  strong- 
est in  the  lead.  As  soon  as  the  teams  were  in 
position,  Dr.  Whitman  tied  a  rope  around  his 
waist  and  starting  his  horse  into  the  current, 
swam  over.  He  called  to  others  to  follow  him, 
and  Wiien  they  had  force  enough  to  pull  at  the 
rope,  the  lead  team  was  started  in  and  all  were 
drawn  over  in  safety.  As  soon  as  the  leading 
teams  were  able  to  get  foot  hold  on  the  bot- 
tom, all  was  safe;  as  they,  aided  by  the  strong 
arms  of  the  men  pulling  at  the  rope,  pulled  the 
weaker  ones  along." 

The  Snake  River  at  the  flood  is  divided  into 
three  rivers  by  islands,  the  last  stream  on  the 

:urrent,  and 


leep 


rapi< 


Oregon  side  is  '< 
fully  half  a  mile  wide.     To  get  so  many  wagons, 
10 


;::iii' 


140 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


pulled  by  jaded  teams,  and  all  the  thousand  men, 
women  and  children,  and  the  loose  stock  across 
in  safety,  showed  wise  generalship. 

VVe  here  copy  "A  dxy  with  the  Cow  Column 
in  1843,"  by  the  Hon.  Jesse  Applegate,  a  late 
iionored  citizen  of  Oregon,  who  was  one  of  Dr. 
Whitman's  company  in  1843.  ^^  is  a  clear; 
graphic  description  of  a  sample  day's  journey  on 
the  famous  trip,  and  was  an  address  published 
in  the  transactions  of  the  Pioneer  Oregon  Asso- 
ciation in  1876. 

The  migration  of  a  large  body  of  men,  women 
and  children,  across  the  Continent  to  Oregon, 
wa.s,  in  the  year  1843,  strictly  an  experiment,  not 
only  in  respect  to  the  numbers,  but  to  the  outfit 
of  the  migrating  party. 

Before  that  date,  two  or  three  missionaries 
had  performed  the  journey  on  horse-back,  driv- 
ing a  few  cows  with  them.  Three  or  four  wagons 
drawn  by  oxen  had  reached  Fort  Hall  on  Snake 
River,  but  it  was  the  honest  opinion  of  most  of 
those  who  had  traveled  the  route  down  Snake 
River,  that  no  large  number  of  cattle  could  be 
subsisted  on  its  scanty  pasturage,  or  wagons 
taken  over  a  route  so  rugged  and  mountainous. 

The  emigrants  were  also  assured  that  the 
Sioux  would  be  much  opposed  to  the  passage  of 
so  large  a  body  through  their  country,  and  v;ould 
i.>rob/"«,bly  resist  it  on  account  of  the  emigrants 
destroying  and  frightening  away  the  buffaloes, 


■* 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


147 


which  were  then  diminishing  in  numbers.  The 
migrating  body  numbered  over  one  thou- 
sand souls,  with  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
wagons,  drawn  by  ox  teams,  averaging  about  six 
yokes  to  the  team,  and  several  thousand  loose 
horses  and  cattle. 

The  emigrants  first  organized  and  attempted 
to  travel  in  one  body,  but  it  was  soon  found  that 
no  progress  could  be  made  with  a  body  so  cum- 
brous, and  as  yet,  so  averse  to  all  discipline.  And 
at  the  crossing  of  the  "Big  Blue,"  it  divided  into 
two  columns,  which  traveled  in  supporting  dis- 
tance of  each  other  as  far  as  Independence  Rock, 
on  the  Sweet  River. 

From  this  point,  all  danger  from  Indians  be- 
ing over,  the  emigrants  separated  into  small 
parties  better  suited  to  the  narrow  mountain 
paths  and  small  pastures  in  their  front. 

Before  the  division  on  the  Blue  River,  there  was 
some  just  cause  for  discontent  in  respect  to  loose 
cattle.  Some  of  the  emigrants  had  only  their 
teams,  while  others  had  large  herds  in  addition, 
which  must  share  the  pastures  and  be  driven  by 
the  whole  body. 

This  discontent  had  its  effect  in  the  division 
on  the  Blue,  those  not  encumbered  with  or  hav- 
ing but  few  loose  cattle  attached  themselves  to 
the  light  column,  those  having  more  than  four  or 
five  cows  had  of  necessity  to  join  the  heavy  or 
cow  column.     Hence,   the    cow  column,  being 


iiU 


148 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


much  larger  tnan  the  other  and  encumbered 
with  its  large  herds,  had  to  use  greater  exertion 
and  observe  a  more  rigid  discipline,  to  keep  pace 
with  the  more  agile  consort. 

It  is  with  the  cow  or  more  clumsy  column  that 
I  propose  to  journey  with  the  reader  for  a  single 
day. 

It  is  four  o'clock  a.  m.,  the  sentinels  on  duty 
have  discharged  their  rifles,  the  signal  that  the 
hours  of  sleep  are  over;  and  every  wagon  or 
tent  is  pouring  forth  its  night  tenants,  and  slow 
kindling  snioke'^  begin  to  rise  and  float  away  on 
the  morning  air.  Sixty  men  start  from  the  cor- 
ral, spreading  as  they  make  through  the  vast 
he.d  of  cattle  and  horses  that  form  a  semi-circle 
around  the  encampment,  the  most  distant,  per- 
haps, two  miles  away. 

The  herders  pass  to  the  extreme  verge,  and 
carefully  examine  for  trails  beyond,  to  see  that 
none  of  the  animals  have  been  stolen  or  strayed 
during  the  night.  This  morning  no  trails  lead 
beyond  the  outside  animals  in  sight,  and  by  five 
o'clock  the  herders  begin  to  contract  the  great 
moving  circle,  and  the  well-trained  animals  move 
slowly  toward  camp,  clipping  h'^re  and  there  a 
thistle  or  tempting  bunch  of  grass  on  the  way. 

In  about  an  hour  5,000  animals  are  close  up 
to  the  encampment,  and  the  teamsters  are  busy 
selecting  their  teams,  and  driving  them  inside 
the  "  corral "   to   be    yoked.      The   corral    is  a 


ii 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


140 


circle  one  hundred  yards  deep,  formed  with 
wagons  connected  strongly  with  each  other,  the 
wagon  in  the  rear  being  connected  with  the 
wagon  in  front  by  its  tongue  and  ox  chains.  It 
is  a  strong  barrier  that  the  most  vicious  ox  can- 
not break,  and  in  case  of  an  attack  by  the  Sioux, 
would  be  no  contemptible  entrenchment. 

From  six  to  seven  o'clock  is  a  busy  time  ; 
breakfast  to  be  eaten,  the  tents  struck,  the 
wagons  loaded,  and  the  teams  yoked  and  brought 
up  in  readiness  to  be  attached  to  their  respective 
wagons.  All  know,  when  at  seven  o'clock  the 
signal  to  march  sounds,  that  those  not  ready  to 
take  their  proper  places  in  the  line  of  march 
must  fall  into  the  dusty  rear  for  the  day. 

There  are  sixty  wagons.  They  have  been 
divided  into  sixteen  divisions,  or  platoons  of 
four  wagons  each,  and  each  platoon  is  entitled  to 
lead  in  its  turn.  The  leading  platoon  of  to-day 
will  be  the  rear  one  to-morrow,  and  will  bring  up 
the  rear,  unless  some  teamster,  through  indo- 
lence or  negligence,  has  lost  his  place  in  the  line, 
and  is  condemned  to  that  uncomfortable  post. 
It  is  within  ten  minutes  of  seven  ;  the  corral,  but 
now  a  strong  barricade,  is  everywhere  broken, 
the  teams  being  attached  to  the  wagons.  The 
women  and  children  have  taken  their  places  in 
them.  The  pilot  (a  borderer  who  has  passed 
his  life  on  the  verge  of  civilization,  and  has  been 
chosen  to  the  post  of  leader  from  his  knowledge 


y 


150 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON, 


w 


of  the  savage  and  his  experience  in  travel 
through  roadless  wastes)  stands  ready,  in  the 
midst  of  his  pioneers  and  aides,  to  mount  and 
lead  the  way^ 

Ten  or  fifteen  young  men,  not  to  lead  to-day, 
form  another  cluster.  They  are  ready  to  start  on 
a  buffalo  hunt,  are  well  mounted  and  well  armed, 
as  they  need  to  be,  for  the  unfriendly  Sioux 
have  driven  the  buffalo  out  of  the  Platte,  and  the 
hunters  must  ride  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to 
reach  them.  The  cow-drivers  are  hastening,  as 
they  get  ready,  to  the  rear  of  their  charge,  to 
collect  and  prepare  them  for  the  day's  march. 

It  is  on  the  stroke  of  seven  ;  the  rushing  to 
and  fro,  the  cracking  of  whips,  the  loud  command 
to  oxen,  and  what  seemed  to  be  the  inextricable 
confusion  of  the  last  ten  minutes  has  ceased. 
Fortunately,  every  one  has  been  found,  and 
every  teamster  is  at  his  post.  The  clear  notes  of 
a  trumpet  sound  in  the  front ;  the  pilot  and  his 
guards  mount  their  horses  ;  the  leading  division 
of  wagons  move  out  of  the  encampment  and  take 
up  the  line  of  march  ;  the  rest  fall  into  their 
places  with  the  precision  of  clock-work,  until  the 
post,  so  lately  full  of  life,  sinks  back  into  that 
solitude  that  seems  to  reign  over  the  broad  plain 
and  rushing  river,  as  the  caravan  draws  its  lazy 
length  toward  the  distant  El  Dorado. 

It  is  with  the  hunters  we  will  briskly  canter 
towards  the  bold   but  smootk  and  grassy  bluff? 


smamt 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OKEGON. 


151 


that  bound  the  broad  va -ley,  for  we  are  not  yet 
in  sigh*^  jf  the  grander,  but  less  beautiful,  scenery 
(of  the  Chimney  Rock,  Court  House,  and  other 
bluffs  so  nearly  resembling  giant  castles  and 
palaces)  made  by  the  passage  of  the  Platte  through 
the  Highlands  near  Laramie.  We  have  been 
traveling  briskly  for  more  than  an  hour.  We 
have  reached  the  top  of  the  bluff,  and  now  have 
turned  to  view  the  wonderful  panorama  spread 
before  us. 

To  those  who  have  not  been  on  the  Platte, 
my  powers  of  description  are  wholly  inade- 
quate to  convey  an  idea  of  the  vast  extent  and 
grandeur  of  the  picture,  and  the  rare  beauty  and 
distinctness  of  its  detail.  No  haze  or  fog  ob- 
scures objects  in  the  pure  and  transparent 
atmosphere  of  this  lofty  region.  To  those  accus- 
tomed to  only  the  murky  air  of  the  sea-board,  no 
correct  judgment  of  distance  can  be  formed  by 
sight,  and  objects  which  they  think  they  can 
reach  in  a  two  hours'  walk,  may  be  a  day's  travel 
away;  and  though  the  evening  air  is  a  better 
conductor  of  sound,  on  the  high  plain  during  the 
day  the  report  of  the  loudest  rifle  sounds  little 
louder  than  the  bursting  of  a  cap;  and  while  the 
report  can  be  heard  but  a  few  hundred  yards,  the 
smoke  of  the  discharge  may  be  seen  for  miles. 

So  extended  is  the  view  from  the  bluff  on 
which  the  hunters  stand,  that  the  broad  river, 
glowing  under  the  morning  sun  like  a  sheet  of 


k 


152 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


silver,  and  the  broader  emerald  valley  that  bor- 
ders it,  stretch  away  in  the  r'istance  until  they 
na  TOW  at  almost  two  ^^  n'  n  the  horizon,  and 
when  first  seen,  the  vasi  -Jic  c'  the  Wind  River 
mountains,  though  hunu  \.ds  '  miles  away, 
looks  clear  and  distinct  as  a  white  cottage  on 
the  plain. 

We  are  full  six  miles  away  from  the  line  of 
march;  though  everything  is  dwarfed  by  dis- 
tance, it  is  seen  distinctly.  Tht^  caravan  has 
been  about  two  hours  in  motion,  and  is  now  ex- 
tended as  widely  as  a  prudent  regard  for  safety 
will  pernwt.  First,  near  the  bank  of  the  shining 
river,  is  a  company  of  horsemen;  they  seemed  to 
have  found  an  obstruction,  for  the  main  body 
has  halted,  while  three  or  four  ride  rapidly  along 
the  bank  of  a  creek  or  slough.  They  are  hunt- 
ing a  favorable  crossing  for  the  wagons;  while 
we  look  they  have  succeeded;  it  has  apparently 
required  no  work  to  make  it  passable,  while  all 
but  one  of  the  party  have  passed  on,  and  he  has 
raised  a  flag,  no  doubt  a  signal  to  the  wagons  to 
steer  their  course  to  where  he  stands. 

The  leading  teamster  sees  him,  though  he  is 
yet  two  miles  off,  and  steers  his  course  directly 
towards  him,  all  the  wagons  following  in  his 
track.  They  (the  wagons)  form  a  line  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  in  length;  some  of  the  team- 
sters ride  upon  the  front  of  their  wagons,  some 
march  beside  their  teams;  scattered  along  the 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


153 


line  companies  of  women  and  children  are  tak- 
ing exercise  on  foot;  they  gather  bouquets  of  rare 
and  beautiful  flowers  that  line  the  way;  near 
them  stalks  a  stately  greyhound  or  an  Irish 
wolf  dog,  apparently  proud  of  keeping  watcK 
and  ward  over  his  master's  wife  and  children. 

Next  comes  a  band  of  horses;  two  or  thrc." 
men  or  boys  follow  them,  the  docile  and  sz.^u- 
cious  animals  scarcely  needing  this  attention,  for 
they  have  learned  to  follow  in  the  rear  of  '^,e 
wagons,  and  know  that  at  noon  they  will  be  al- 
lowed to  graze  and  rest.  Their  knowledge  of 
time  seems  as  accurate  as  of  the  place  they  are 
to  occupy  in  the  line,  and  even  a  full-blown 
thistle  will  scarce  tempt  them  to  straggle  or  halt 
until  the  dinner  hour  is  arrived. 

Not  so  with  the  large  herd  of  horned  beasts 
that  bring  up  the  rear;  lazy,  selfish  and  unsocial,  it 
has  been  a  task  to  get  them  in  motion,  the  strong 
always  ready  to  domineer  over  the  weak,  halt 
in  the  front  and  forbid  the  weaker  to  pass  them. 
They  seem  to  move  only  in  fear  of  the  driver's 
whip;  though  in  the  morning  full  to  repletion, 
they  have  not  been  driven  an  hour,  before  their 
hunger  and  thirst  seem  to  indicate  a  fast  of  days' 
duration.  Through  all  the  day  long  their  greed 
is  never  sated  nor  their  thirst  quenched,  nor  is 
there  a  moment  of  relaxation  of  the  tedious  and 
vexatious  labors  of  their  drivers,  although  to  all 
others  the  march  furnishes  some  reason  of  relax- 


I 


1^ 


164 


now   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


ation  or  enjoyment.  For  the  cow-drivers,  there 
is  none. 

But  from  the  stand-point  of  the  hunters  the 
vexations  are  not  apparent;  the  crack  of  whip 
and  loud  objurgations  are  lost  in  the  distance. 
Nothing  of  the  moving  panorama,  smooth  and 
orderly  as  it  appears,  has  more  attraction  for  the 
eye  than  that  vast  square  column  in  which  all 
colors  are  mingled,  moving  here  slowly  and  there 
briskly,  as  impelled  by  horsemen  riding  furiously 
in  front  and  rear. 

But  the  picture,  in  its  grandeur,  its  wonderful 
mingling  of  colors  and  distinctness  of  detail,  is 
forgotten  in  contemplation  of  the  singular  peo- 
ple who  give  it  life  and  animation.  No  other 
race  of  men,  with  the  means  at  their  command, 
would  undertake  so  great  a  journey;  none  save 
these  could  successfully  perform  it,  with  no  pre- 
vious preparation,  relying  only  on  the  fertility  of 
their  invention  to  devise  the  means  to  overcome 
each  danger  and  difficulty  as  it  arose. 

They  have  undertaken  to  perform  with  slov/- 
moving  oxen,  a  journey  of  two  thousand  miles. 
The  way  lies  over  trackless  wastes,  wide  and 
deep  rivers,  rugged  and  lofty  mountains,  and  it 
is  beset  with  hostile  savages.  Yet,  whether  it 
were  a  deep  river  with  no  tree  upon  its  banks,  a 
rugged  defile  where  even  a  loose  horse  could  not 
pass,  a  hill  too  steep  for  him  to  climb,  or  a  threat- 
ened attack  of  an  enemy,  they  are  always  found 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


155 


ready  and  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  always  con- 
querors. May  we  not  call  them  men  of  destiny? 
They  are  people  changed  in  no  essential  particu- 
lars from  their  ancestors,  who  have  followed 
closely  on  the  footsteps  of  the  receding  savage, 
from  the  Atlantic  sea-board  to  the  great  valley  ' 
of  the  Mississippi. 

}3ut  while  we  have  been  gazing  at  the  picture 
in  the  valley,  the  hunters  have  been  examining 
the  high  plain  in  the  other  direction.  Some 
dark  moving  objects  have  been  discovered  in  the 
distance,  and  all  are  closely  watching  them  to 
discover  what  they  arc,  for  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  plains,  a  flock  of  crows  marching  miles  away, 
or  a  band  of  buffaloes  or  Indians  at  ten  times 
the  distance,  look  alike,  and  many  ludicrous  mis- 
takes occur.  But  these  are  buffaloes,  for  two 
have  struck  their  heads  together,  and  are,  alter- 
nately pushing  each  other  back.  The  hunters 
mount  and  away  in  pursuit,  and  I,  a  poor  cow- 
driver,  must  hurry  back  to  my  daily  toil,  and 
talie  a  scolding  from  my  fellow-herders  for  so 
long  playing  truant. 

The  pilot,  by  measuring  the  ground  and  tim- 
ing the  speed  of  the  wagons  and  the  walk  of  his 
horses,  has  determined  the  rate  of  each,  so  as  to 
enable  him  to  select  the  nooning  place,  as  nearly 
as  the  requisite  grass  and  water  can  be  had  at 
the  end  of  five  hours'  travel  of  the  wagons.  To- 
day, the  ground  being  favorable,  little  time  has 


1 


i 


■  I 


IdO 


HOW    MAUClb    WHITMAN    .SAVKU   OUKCON. 


been  lost  in  preparing  the  road,  so  that  he  and 
his  pioneers  are  at  the  nooning  place  an  hour  in 
advance  of  the  wagons,  which  time  is  spent  in 
preparing  convenient  watering  places  for  the 
animals,  and  digging  little  wells  near  the  bank 
of  the  Platte. 

As  the  teams  are  not  unyoked,  but  simply 
turned  loose  from  their  wagons,  a  corral  is  not 
formed  at  noon,  but  the  wagons  arr  drawn  up  in 
columns,  four  abreast,  the  leading  wagon  of  each 
platoon' on  the  left — the  platoons  being  formed 
with  that  view.  This  brings  friends  together  at 
noon  as  well  as  at  night. 

To-day,  an  extra  session  of  the  Council  is  be- 
ing held,  to  settle  a  dispute  that  does  not  admit 
of  delay,  between  a  proprietor  and  a  young  man 
who  has  undertaken  to  do  a  man's  service  on 
the  journey  for  bed  and  board.  Many  such  en- 
gagements exist,  and  much  interest  is  taken  in 
the  manner  this  high  court,  from  which  there 
is  no  appeal,  will  define  the  rights  of  each  party 
in  such  engagements. 

The  Council  was  a  high  court  in  a  most  ex- 
alted sense.  It  was  a  Senate,  composed  of  the 
ablest  and  most  respected  fathers  of  the  emigra- 
tion. It  exercised  both  legislative  and  judicial 
powers,  and  its  laws  and  decisions  proved  it 
equal  and  worthy  the  high  trust  reposed  in  it. 
Its  sessions  were  usually  held  on  days  when  the 
caravan  was  not  moving.     It  first  took  the  state 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


15*3 


of  the  little  commonwealth  into  consideration; 
revised  or  repealed  rules  defective  or  obsolete, 
and  enacted  such  others  as  the  exigenciesseemed 
to  require.  The  common  weal  being  cared  for, 
it  next  resolved  itself  inio  a  court  to  hear  and 
settle  private  disputes  and  grievances. 

The  offender  and  the  aggrieved  appeared  be- 
fore it;  witnesses  were  examined  and  the  parties 
were  heard  by  themselves  and  sometimes  by 
counsel.  The  judges  thus  being  made  fully  ac- 
quainted with  the  case,  and  being  in  no  way 
influenced  or  cramped  by  technicalities,  decided 
all  cases  according  to  their  merits.  There  was 
but  little  use  for  lawyers  before  this  court,  for  no 
plea  was  entertained  which  was  calculated  to 
hinder  or  defeat  the  ends  of  justice. 

Many  of  these  Judges  have  since  won  honors 
in  higher  spheres.  They  have  aided  to  estab- 
lish on  the  broad  basis  of  ri(?ht  and  universal 
liberty,  two  of  the  pillars  of  our  Great  Republic 
in  the  Occident.  Some  of  the  young  men  who 
appeared  before  them  as  advocates,  have  them- 
selves sat  L  oon  the  highest  judicial  tribunal, 
commanded  armies,  been  Governors  of  States, 
and  taken  high  positions  in  the  Senate  of  the 
Nation. 
-  It  is  now  one  o'clock;  the  bugle  has  sounded, 
and  the  caravan  has  resumed  its  westward  jour- 
ney. It  is  in  the  same  order,  but  the  evening  is 
far  less  animated  than  the  morning  march;  a 


!! 

ii 

111 

I 


if    : 
f  1 


m\\ 


158 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


drowsiness  has  fp^en  apparently  on  man  and 
beast;  teamsters  drop  asleep  on  their  perches 
and  even  when  walking  by  their  teams,  and  the 
words  of  command  are  now  addressed  to  the 
slowly  creeping  oxen  in  the  softened  tenor  of  a 
woman  or  the  piping  treble  of  children,  while 
the  snores  of  teamsters  make  a  droning  accom- 
paniment. 

But  a  little  incident  breaks  the  monotony  of 
the  march.  An  emigrant's  wife,  whose  state  of 
health  has  caused  Dr.  Whitman  to  travel  near 
the  wagon  for  the  day,  is  now  taken  with  violent 
illness.  The  Doctor  has  had  the  wagon  driven 
out  of  the  line,  a  tent  pitch(xl  and  a  fire  kindled. 
Many  conjectures  are  hazarded  in  regard  to  ^his 
mysterious  proceeding,  and  as  to  why  this  lone 
wagon  is  to  be  left  behind. 

xA.nd  we  too  must  leave  it,  hasten  to  the  front 
and  note  the  proceedings,  for  the  sun  is  now 
getting  low  in  the  West,  and  at  length  the  pains- 
taking pilot  is  standing  ready  to  conduct  the 
train  in  the  circle  which  he  had  previously 
measured  and  marked  out,  which  is  to  form  the 
invariable  fortification  for  the  night. 

The  leading  wagons  follow  him  so  nearly 
round  the  circle,  that  but  a  wagon  length  separ- 
ates them.  Each  wagon  follows  in  its  track,  the 
rear  closing  on  the  front  until  its  tongue  and 
ox-chains  will  perfectly  reach  from  one  to  the 
other,  and   so  accurate  the    measurement,  and 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


159 


perfect  the  practice,  that  the  hindmost  wagon  of 
the  train  always  precisely  closes  the  gateway. 
As  each  wagon  is  brought  into  position,  it  is 
dropped  from  its  team,  (the  teams  being  inside 
the  circle)  the  team  unyoked,  and  the  yokes 
and  chains  are  used  to  connect  the  wagon 
strongly  with  that  in  its  front. 

Within  ten  minutes  from  the  time  the  lead- 
ing wagon  halted  the  barricade  is  formed,  the 
teams  unyoked  and  driven  out  to  pasture. 
Every  one  is  busy  preparing  fires  of  buffalo 
chips  to  cook  the  evening  meal,  pitching  tents 
and  otherwise  preparing  for  the  night. 

There  are  anxious  watchers  for  the  absent 
wagon,  for  there  are  many  matrons  who  may  be 
afflicted  like  its  inmate  before  the  journey  is 
over,  and  they  fear  the  strange  and  startling 
practice  of  this  Oregon  doctor  will  be  danger- 
ous. But  as  the  sun  goes  down,  the  absent 
wagon  rolls  into  camp,  the  bright,  speaking  face 
and  cheery  look  of  the  Doctor,  who  rides  in 
advance,  declare  without  words  that  all  is  well, 
and  that  both  mother  and  child  are  comfortable. 

I  would  fain  now  and  here  pay  a  passing  trib- 
ute to  that  noble  and  devoted  man,  Dr.  Whitman. 
I  will  obtrude  no  other  name  upon  the  reader, 
nor  would  I  his,  were  he  of  our  party  or  even 
living,  but  his  stay  with  us  was  transient,  though 
the  good  he  did  was  permanent,  and  he  has 
long  since  died  at  his  post. 


m 


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100 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


From  the  time  he  joined  us  on  the  Platte,  un- 
til he  left  us  at  Fort  Hall,  his  great  experience 
and  indomitable  energy  was  of  priceless  value 
to  the  migrating  column.  His  constant  advice, 
which  we  knew  was  based  upon  a  knowledge  of 
the  road  before  us,  was  "travel,  travel,  travel — 
nothing  else  will  take  you  to  the  end  of  your 
journey;  nothing  is  wise  that  doss  not  help  you 
along;  nothing  is  good  for  you  that  causes  a  mo- 
ment's delay.' 

His  great  authority  as  a  physician  and  com- 
plete success  in  the  case  above  referred  to,  saved 
us  many  prolonged  and  perhaps  ruinous  delays 
from  similar  causes,  and  it  is  no  disparagement 
to  others  to  say  that  to  no  other  individual  are 
the  immigrants  of  1843  so  much  indebted  for  the 
successful  conclusion  of  their  journey,  as  to  Dr. 
Marcus  Whitman. 

All  able  to  bear  arms  in  the  party  had  been 
formed  into  three  companies,  and  each  of  these 
into  four  watches;  every  third  night  it  is  the  duty 
of  one  of  these  companies  to  keep  watch  and 
ward  over  the  camp,  and  it  is  so  arranged  that 
each  watch  takes  its  turn  of  guard  duty  through 
the  different  watches  of  the  night.  Those  form- 
ing the  f^.rst  watch  to-night,  will  be  second  on 
duty,  then  third  and  fourth,  which  brings  them 
all  through  the  watches  of  the  night.  They  be- 
gin at  eight  o'clock  p.  m,  and  end  at  4  o'clock 

A.   M. 


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REV.  GUSHING  EELLS,  D.  D. 
Founder  of  Whitman  College. 


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HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


161 


! 


\. 


It  is  not  yet  eight  o'clock  when  the  first 
watch  is  to  be  set;  the  evening  meal  is  just  over, 
and  the  corral  now  free  from  the  intrusion  of 
horses  or  cattle,  groups  of  children  are  scattered 
over  it.  The  larger  are  taking  a  game  of  romps; 
"the  wee,  toddling  things"  are  being  taught  that 
great  achievement  which  distinguishes  men 
from  the  lower  animals.  Before  a  tent  near  the 
river,  a  violin  makes  lively  music  and  some 
youths  and  maidens  have  improvised  a  dance 
upon  the  green;  in  another  quarter  a  flute  gives 
its  mellow  and  melancholy  notes  to  the  still 
night  air,  which,  as  they  float  away  over  the  quiet 
river,  seem  a  lament  for  the  past  rather  than  for 
a  hope  of  the  future. 

It  has  been  a  prosperous  day;  more  than 
twenty  miles  have  been  accomplished  of  the 
great  journey.  The  encampment  is  a  good  le; 
one  of  the  causes  that  threatened  much  i\  ure 
delay  has  just  been  removed  by  the  skill  and 
energy  of  "that  good  angel"  of  the  emigrants, 
Dr.  Whitman,  and  it  has  lifted  a  load  from  the 
hearts  of  the  elders.  Many  of  these  arc  assem- 
bled around  the  good  doctor  at  the  tent  of  the 
pilot  (which  is  his  home  for  the  time  being), 
and  are  giving  grave  attention  to  his  wise  and 
energetic  counsel.  The  care-worn  Pilot  sits 
aloof  quietly  smoking  his  pipe,  for  he  knovv  ;  the 
grave  Doctor  is  "strength  in  his  hands." 

But   time   passes,    the   watch   is   set  for   the 

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162 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON, 


nrght,  the  counsel  of  good  men  has  been  broken 
up  and  each  has  returned  to  his  own  quarters. 
The  flute  has  whispered  its  last  lament  to  the 
deepening  night.  The  violin  is  silent  and  the 
dancers  have  dispersed.  Enamored  youths 
have  whispered  a  tender  "good-night"  in  the 
ear  of  blushing  maidens,  or  stolen  a  kiss  from 
the  lips  of  some  future  bride;  for  Cupid,  here  as 
elsewhere,  has  been  busj  bringing  together  con- 
genial hearts,  and  among  these  simple  people, 
he  alone  is  consulted  in  forming  the  marriage 
tie.  Even  the  Doctor  and.  the  Pilot  have  nnished 
their  confidential  interview  and  have  separated 
for  the  night.  All  is  hushed  and  repose  from 
the  fatigues  of  the  day,  save  the  vigilant  guard, 
and  the  wakeful  leader  who  still  has  cares  upon 
his  mind  that  forbid  sleep. 

He  hears  the  ten  o'clock  relief  taking  post, 
and  the  "  all  well  "  report  of  the  returned  guard  ; 
the  night  deepens,  yet  he  seeks  not  the  needed 
repose.  At  length  3  >entinel  hurries  to  him  with 
the  welcome  .(.port  ihju  a  party  is  approaching, 
as  yet  too  far  away  for  it'  character  to  be  deter- 
mined, and  he  instantly  hurries  out  in  the 
direction  seen. 

This  he  do*^  s  botl  from  inclinatioii  and  duty, 
for,  m  times  f  ist,  the  c  imp  has  been  unnecessarily 
alarmed  by  timid  or  inexperienced  sentinels, 
causing  much  confusion  and  fright  amongst 
women   and  children,  and   it   had   been  made  a 


HOW    MAKCUS    WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


163 


rule  that  all  extraordinary  incidents  of  the  night 
should  be  reported  directly  to  the  Pilot,  who 
alone  had  authority  to  call  out  the  military 
strength  of  the  column,  or  so  much  of  it  as  was, 
in  his  judgment,  necessary  to  prevent  a  stampede 
or  repel  an  enemy. 

To-night  he  is  at  no  loss  to  determine  that 
the  approaching  party  are  our  missing  hunters, 
and  that  they  have  met  with  success,  and  he 
only  waits  until,  by  some  further  signal,  he  can 
know  that  no  ill  has  happened  to  them.  This  is 
not  long  wanting;  he  does  not  even  wait  their 
arrival,  but  the  last  care  of  the  day  being  re- 
moved and  the  last  duties  performed,  he,  too, 
seeks  the  rest  that  will  enable  him  to  go  through 
the  same  routine  to-morrow.  But  here  I  leave 
him,  for  my  task  is  also  done,  and,  unlike  his,  it 
is  to  be  repeated  no  more. 

After  passing  through  such  trials  and  dangers, 
nothing  could  have  been  more  cheering  to  these 
tired  immigrants  than  the  band  of  Cayuse  and 
Nez  Perces  Indians,  with  packed  mules  loaded 
with  supplies,  meeting  the  Doctor  upon  the 
mountains  with  a  glad  welcome.  From  them  he 
learned  that  in  his  absence  his  mill  had  been 
burned,  but  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding,  anticipat- 
ing the  needs  of  the  caravan,  had  furnished  flour 
from  his  mill,  and  nothing  was  ever  more  joy- 
ously received. 

Dr.  Whitman  also  received  letters  urging 
him  to  hurry  on  to  his  Mission.     He  selected  on? 


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HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED    OREGON. 


of  his  most  trusty  Cayuse  Indian  guides,  Istikus, 
and  placed  the   company   under  his  lead.     He 
was  no  longer  a  necessity  for  its  comfort  and 
safety.     The  most  notable  event  in  pioneer  his- 
tory is  reaching  its  culmination.     That  long  train 
of  canvas-covered   wagons    moving   across   the 
plains,  those  two  hundred  camp-fires  at  night, 
with  shouts  and  laughter  and  singing  of  children, 
were  all  new  and  strange  to  these  solitudes.     As 
simple  facts  in  history,  to  an  American  they  are 
profoundly   interesting,   but   to   the    thoughtful 
student  who  views  results,  they  assume  propor- 
tions whose  grandeur  is  not  easily  over-estimated. 
But  the  little  band  has  come  safely  across  the 
Rockies ;  has  forded  and  swum  many  intervening 
rivers  ;  the  dreary  plains,  with  salaratus  dust  and 
buffalo  gnatSf  had  been  left  behind,  and  here 
they  stand  upon  a  slope  of  the  farthest  western 
range  of  mountains,  with  the  fertile  foot-hills  and 
beautiful  grass  meadows  reaching  as  far  away  as 
the  eye  can  see.    The  wagons  are  well  bunched. 
For  weeks  they  have  been  enger  to  see  the  land 
of  promise.    It  is  a  goodly  sight  to  see,  as  they 
file  down  the  mountain  side,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  wagons,  one  thousand  head  of  loose 
stock,  cattle,  horses  and  sheep,  and  about  one 
thousand  men,  women  and  children,  and  Oregon 
is  saved  to  the  Union. 
Who  did  it? 

We  leave  every  thoughtful,  honest  reader  to 
answer  the  query. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


A  BACKWARD  LOOK  AT  KESULTH. 


_ 


The  reader  of  history  is  often  moved  to  ad- 
miration at  the  dash  and  courage  of  some  bold 
hero,  even  when  he  has  failed  in  the  work  he 
set  out  to  accomplish.  The  genius  to  invent, 
with  the  courage  to  prosecute,  has  often  failed  in 
reaching  the  hoped-for  results.  The  pages  of 
history  of  all  time  are  burdened  with  the  plain- 
tive cry,  "  Oh,  for  night  or  Blucher."  It  is  the 
timeliness  of  great  events  that  mark  real  genius, 
and  the  largest  wisdom. 

Of  Whitman  it  was  a  leading  characteristic. 
He  did  the  right  thing  just  at  the  right  time. 
His  faith  was  equal  to  his  courage  and  when  his 
duty  was  made  clear  to  his  mind,  there  was  no 
impediment  that  he  would  not  attempt  to  over- 
come. Now  we  are  to  study  the  results  of  his 
heroic  ride,  and  will  see  how  dangerous  would 
have  been  any  delay. 

We  have  noted  Webster's  letter  to  the  Eng- 


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160 


now   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREOON. 


lish  Minister,  dated  in  1840,  in  which  he  said, 
"The  ownership  of  the  whole  country"  (refer- 
ring to  Oregon)  "will  likely  follow  the  greater 
settlement  and  larger  amount  of  population," 
and  this  we  may  say  was  the  common  sentiment 
of  our  early  Statesmen,  and  not  peculiar  to  Mr. 
Webster.  But  Whitman  has  started  a  new  train 
of  thought  and  given  a  new  direction  to  the 
policy  of  the  administration. 

The  President  believed  in  the  truthful  report 
of  the  Hero  with  his  frozen  limbs,  who  had  ridden 
four  thousand  miles  in  mid-winter  without  pay 
or  hope  of  reward,  to  plead  for  Oregon.  Imme- 
diately upon  the  close  of  the  conference  the 
record  shows  that  Secretary  Webster  wrote  to 
Minister  Everett  and  said,  "The  Government  of 
the  United  States  has  never  offered  any  line 
south  of  forty-nine  and  never  will,  an<'  England 
must  not  expect  anything  south  of  the  forty- 
ninth  degree." 

That  is  a  wonderful  change.  Upon  receipt 
of  the  news  that  Dr.  Whitman,  in  June,  "  Had 
started  to  Oregon  with  a  great  caravan  number- 
ing nearly  one  thousand  souls,"  another  letter 
was  sent  to  the  English  Minister,  still  more 
pointed  and  impressive. 

The  President  and  his  Secretary  at  once  be- 
gan to  arrange  the  terms  for  a  treaty  with  Eng- 
land regarding  the  boundary  line,  and  negotia- 
tions were  speedily  begun.     It  did  not  look  to  be 


HOW   MARCUS    x.'HITMAN   SAVKD   OREGON. 


107 


a  hopeful  task  when  the  Ashburton- Webster 
Treaty,  just  signed  in  1842,  had  been  a  bone  of 
contention  for  forty-ei^!it  years.  Still  more  did 
it  look  discouraging  from  the  fact  that  diplomats 
the  year  before  had  resolved  to  leave  the  Oregon 
boundary  out  of  the  case,  as  it  was  said,  "  Other- 
wise it  would  likely  defeat  the  whole  treaty." 

But  suddenly  new  blood  had  been  injected 
into  American  veins  in  and  about  Washington. 
They  saw  a  great  fertile  country,  thirty  times  as 
large  as  Massachusetts,  which  was  rightfully 
theirs  and  yet  claimed  by  a  power  many  thou- 
sand miles  separated  from  it.  The  National 
blood  was  aroused.  A  great  political  party,  not 
satisfied  with  Secretary  Webster's  modest  "  lati- 
tude of  forty-nine  degrees"  emblazoned  on  its 
banners,  "Oregon  and  fifty-four  forty    -r  fight." 

The  spirit  of  '76  and  181 2  seemed  to  have 
suddenly  been  aroused  throughout  the  Nation. 
People  did  not  stop  to  ask,  who  has  done  it,  or 
how  it  all  happened;  but  no  intelligent  or 
thoughtful  student  of  history  can  doubt  how  it 
all  happened,  or  who  was  its  author.  It  was  also 
easy  to  see  that  it  was  to  be  no  forty-eight  year 
campaign  before  the  question  must  be  adjudicated. 

The  Hon.  Elwood  Evans,  in  a  speech  in  1871, 
well  said:  "The  arrival  of  Dr.  Whitman  in  1843 
was  opportune.  The  President  was  satisfied  the 
territory  wi'S  worth  preserving."  He  continues, 
"If  the  offer  had  been  made  in  the  Ashburton 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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HOW   MARCUS   WHITMA::  saved  OREGON. 


Treaty  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  to  the  Columbia 
River,  and  thence  down  the  Columbia  to  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean,  it  would  have  been  accepted,  but  the 
visit  of  Whitman  committed  the  President 
against  any  such  settlement." 

The  offer  was  not  made  by  English  Diplo- 
mats, because  they  intended  to  have  a  much 
larger  slice.  Captain  Johnny  Grant  and  the 
English  Hudson  Bay  officials  made  their  greatest 
blunder  in  allowing  Whitman  to  make  his  peril- 
ous Winter  ride.  They  were  not  prepared  for 
the  sudden  change  in  American  sentiment.  In 
any  enthusiasm  for  our  Hero,  we  would  not  will- 
ingly make  any  exaggerated  claim  for  his  ser- 
vices. Prior  to  the  arrival  of  Whitman,  Presi- 
dent Tyler  had  shown  thoughtful  interest  in  the 
Oregon  question,  and  in  his  message  in  1842  he 
said:  "In  advance  of  the  acquirement  of  indi- 
vidual rights  to  those  lands,  sound  policy  dictates 
that  every  effort  should  be  resorted  to  by  the 
two  Governments  to  settle  their  respective 
claims." 

Fifteen  days  before  the  arrival  of  Whitman, 
Senator  Linn,  always  a  firm  friend  of  Oregon,  in 
a  resolution  called  for  information  "Why  Ore- 
gon was  not  included  in  the  Ashburton-Webster 
Treaty."  This  resolution  passed  the  Senate, 
but  was  defeated  in  the  House.  Neither  the 
President,  Senators,  or  Congressmen  had  the  data 
upon  which  to  base  clear,  intelligent  action,  and 


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HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


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*  I 


Whitman  s  arrival  just  when  congress  was  clos- 
ing up  its  business,  gave  no  opportunity  for  the 
wider  discussion  which  would  have  followed 
then  and  there.  It  was,  however,  another  evi- 
dence of  timeliness,  which  we  wish  to  keep  well 
to  the  front  in  all  Whitman's  work. 

All  can  see  how  fortunate  it  was  that  the 
Oregon  boundary  question  was  not  included  in 
the  Ashburton  Treaty  in  1842,  and  that  it  had 
waited  for  later  adjudication.  During  the  sum- 
mer of  1843  the  people  of  the  entire  country  had 
heard  of  the  great  overland  emigration  to  Ore- 
gon, and  on  the  8th  day  of  January,  1844,  Congress 
was  notified  that  the  Whitman  immigration  to 
Oregon  was  a  grand  success,  and  upon  the  very 
day  of  the  arrival  of  this  news,  a  resolution  was 
offered  in  the  Senate  which  called  for  the  instruc- 
tions to  our  Minister  in  England  and  all  corre- 
spondence upon  the  subject.  But  the  conserva- 
tive Senate  was  not  quite  ready  yet  for  such  a 
move,  and  the  resolution  was  defeated' by  a  close 
vote.  But  two  days  after  a  similar  resolution 
was  passed  by  the  House. 

Urged  to  do  so  by  Whitman,  the  ^ees, 
Lovejoy,  Spalding,  Eells  and  others,  scores  of 
intelligent  emigrants  flooded  their  congressmen 
with  letters  giving  glowing  descriptions  of  the 
beauty  of  the  country,  the  fertility  of  the  land, 
and  the  mildness  and  healthfulness  of  the  clim- 
ate.    Even  Senator  Winthrop,  who  at  one  time 


170 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


declared  that  "Neither  the  West  nor  the  country 
at  large  had  any  real  interest  in  retaining  Ore- 
gon; that  we  would  not  be  straitened  for 
elbow  room  in  the  West  for  a  thousand  years," 
was  aroused  to  something  of  enthusiasm,  and 
said  in  his  place  in  the  Senate,  "For  myself,  cer- 
tainly, I  believe  that 'we  have  a  good  title  to  the 
whole  twelve  degrees  of  latitude  up  to  fifty- 
four,  forty." 

Senator  Benton  had  long  since  materially 
changed  his  views  from  those  he  held  when  he 
had  said  that  "The  ridge  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains may  be  named  as  the  convenient,  natural 
and  everlasting  boundary."  Fremont,  not  Whit- 
man, had  converted  him.  Benton  was  aggres- 
sive and  intelligent.  In  the  discussion  of  1844, 
he  said:  "Let  the  emigrants  go  on  and  carry 
their  rifles.  We  want  thirty  thousand  rifles  in  the 
valley  of  the  Oregon.  The  war,  if  it  come,  will 
not  be  topical;  it  will  not  be  confined  to  Ore- 
gon, but  will  embrace  the  possessions  of  the  two 
Powers  throughout  the  Globe." 

In  the  discussion,  which  took  a  wide  turn, 
many  of  the  eminent  statesmen  at  that  time 
took  a  part.  Prominent  among  them  was  Cal- 
houn, Linn,  Benton,  Choate,  Berrien  and  Rives. 
Many  of  them  tried  the  most  persuasive  words 
of  peace,  yet  no  one  who  reads  the  speeches 
and  the  proceedings,  but  will  .perceive  the  won- 
derful changes  in    public  sentiment    during    a 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


171 


1 1 


single  year.  The  year  1844  ended  with  the 
struggle  growing  every  day  more  intense.  The 
English  people  had  awakened  to  the  fact  that 
they  had  to  meet  the  issue  and  there  would  not 
be  any  repetition  of  the  old  dallying  with  the 
Maine  boundary.  They  sent  to  this  country 
Minister  Packenham  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
to  negotiate  the  treaty.  Mr.  Buchanan  acted 
for  the  United  States. 

It  was  talk  and  counter  talk.  Buchanan  was 
one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  demand  for  fifty- 
four  forty,  and  his  position  was  well  understood 
both  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  by 
England.  President  Tyler,  in  his  final  message, 
earnestly  recommended  the  extension  of,  the 
United  States  laws  over  the  Territory  of  Oregon. 

In  this  connection  it  will  be  remembered  that 
Dr.  Whitman,  only  a  few  months  before  the 
great  massacre,  in  which  he  and  his  noble  wife 
lost  their  lives,  rode  all  the  way  to  Oregon  City 
to  urge  Judge  Thornton  to  go  to  Washington 
and  beg,  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Oregon, 
for  a  "  Provisional  Government."  Judge  Thorn- 
ton believed  in  Dr.  Whitman's  wisdom,  and 
when  the  Doctor  declared  that  which  seemed  to 
be  a  prophecy,  "Unless  this  is  done,  nothing 
will  save  even  my  Mission  from  murder."  The 
Judge  said:  "If  Governor  Abernethy  will  fur- 
nish me  a  letter  to  the  President,  I  will  go."  The 
Governor  promptly  furnished  the  required  letter 


172 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


and  Judge  Thornton  resigned  his  position  as 
Supreme  Judge.  All  know  of  the  fatal  events  r.t 
the  Whitman  Mission  in  less  than  two  months 
after  Judge  Thornton's  departure. 

But  the  boundary*  question  lapped  over  into 
Mr.  Polk's  administration  in  1845  with  a  promise 
of  lively  times.  President  Polk,  in  December, 
1845,  niade  it  the  leading  question  in  his  mes- 
sage. He  covers  the  whole  question  in  dispute 
and  says:  "The  proposition  of  compromise 
which  has  been  made  and  rejected,  was  by  my 
order  withdrawn,  and  our  title  to  the  whole  of 
Oregon  asserted,  and,  as  it  is  believed,  main- 
tained by  irrefragable  facts  and  arguments." 
The  President  recommended  that  the  joint  occu- 
pation treaty  of  1818-1828  be  terminated  by  the 
Stipulated  notice,  and  that  the  civil  and  criminal 
laws  of  the  United  States  be  extended  over  the 
whole  of  Oregon,  and  that  a  line  of  military 
posts  be  established  along  the  route  from  the 
States  to  the  Pacific." 

If  the  reader  will  take  the  pains  to  read  the 
paper  which  Dr.  Whitman  by  request,  sent  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  1843,  republished  in  the 
appendix  of  this  volume,  he  will  find  in  it  just 
the  recommendations  now  two  years  later  made 
by  the  President.  The  great  misfortune  was 
that  it  was  not  complied  with  promptly.  War 
upon  a  grand  scale  seemed  imminent.  A  lead- 
ing Senator  announced  that  "  War  may  now  be 
looked  for  almost  inevitably." 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


173 


The  whole  tone  oi  public  sentiment,  in  Con- 
gress and  out,  was  that  the  United  States  owned 
Oregon,  not  only  up  to  49°,  but  up  to  54^-40' ."  It 
was  thought  that  the  resolution  of  notice  for  the 
termination  of  the  Treaty  would  cause  a  declara- 
tion of  war.  For  forty  days  the  question  was 
pending  before  the  House  and  finally  passed  by 
the  strong  vote  of  163  for  to  54  against.  In  the 
Senate  the  resolution  covered  a  still  wider  range 
and  a  longer  time.  But  little  else  was  thought 
or  talked  about.  Business  throughout  the  land 
was  at  a  stand-still  in  the  suspense,  or  was 
hurrying  to  prepare  for  a  great  emergency. 
The  wisest,  coolest-headed  Senators  still  re- 
garded the  question  at  issue  open  for  peaceful 
settlement.  They  dwelt  upon  the  horrors  of  a 
war,  that  would  cost  the  Nation  five  hundred 
millions  in  treasure,  beside  the  loss  of  life. 

Webster,  who  had  been  so  soundly  abused 
for  his  Ashburton  Treaty  had  held  aloof  from 
this  discussion.  But  there  came  a  time  when  he 
could  no  longer  remain  silent,  and  he  put  him- 
self on  the  record  in  a  single  sentence.  "It  is 
my  opinion  that  it  is  not  the  judgment  of  this 
Country,  or  that  of  the  Senate,  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  should  run  the  hazard 
of  a  war  for  Oregon,  by  renouncing  as  no  longer 
fit  for  consideration,  the  proposition  of  adjust- 
ment made  by  the  Government  thirty  years  ago, 
and  repeated  in  the  face  of  the  world." 


Vi 


174 


now  MAKCU8   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


Calhoun,  than  whom  no  Senator  was  mere 
influential,  urged  continued  peaceful  methods. 
He  said,  "  A  question  of  greater  mo-ment  never 
has  been  presented  to  Congress."  Others 
counseled  a  continuance  of  things  as  they  were 
and  letting  immigration  after  the  bold  Whitman 
plan  settle  it. 

Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  both  Nations,  after 
the  wide  discussion  and  threats,  saw  war  as  a 
costly  experiment.  In  the  last  of  April  the 
terms  of  treaty  were  agreed  upon,  and  on  July 
17th,  1846,  both  Governments  had  signed  a  treaty 
fixing  the  boundary  line  at  49°. 

Now  here  again  comes  in  the  timeliness  of 
Whitman's  memorable  ride.  It  had  taken  every 
day  of  exciting  contest  in  Congress  since  that 
event,  up  to  April,  1846,  to  agree 'upon  the  boun- 
dary and  for  America  to  get  her  Oregon.  On 
the  13th  day  of  May,  1846,  Congress  declared 
war  against  Mexico,  and  California  was  at  stake. 
Suppose  England  could  have  forseen  that  event, 
would  she  not  have  declared  in  favor  of  a  longer 
wait  ?  Who  that  knows  England  does  not  know 
that  she  would  ?  With  England  still  holding  to 
her  rights  in  Oregon  how  easy  it  would  have 
been  to  take  sides  with  Mexico  and  to  have 
helped  her  hold  California. 

Blit  we  won  not  only  California  and  New 
Mexico,  but  won  riches.  In  the  year  1848  gold 
was  discovered  in  California.     And  now  suppose 


HOW    MAKCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


175 


England  could  have  foreseen  that,  as  .ihe  would 
have  known  it  had  she  prolonged  the  negotia- 
tions, would  she  ever  have  signed  away  any  pos- 
sessions like  that  rolled  in  gold  ?  When  did  the 
great  and  powerful  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
ever  do  anything  of  the  kind  ? 

It  would  not  have  done  for  Whitman  to 
have  waited  for  next  year  and  warm  weather  as 
his  friends  demanded.  "I  must  go,"  and  "now," 
and  at  this  day  it  is  easy  to  see  from  the  light  of 
history  how  God  rules  in  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  men,  as  he  rules  Nations.  They,  as  men  and 
nations,  turn  aside  from  His  commands,  but  a 
man  like  Marcus  Whitman  obeys. 

Go  still  farther.  From  the  time  gold  was  dis- 
covered in  California  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  nine  hundred  millions  of 
gold  were  dug  from  the  mines  of  California  and 
Oregon.  Where  did  it  go  ?  The  great  bulk  of 
it  went  into  store-houses  and  manufactories  and 
vaults  of  the  North.  The  South  was  sparsely 
represented  in  California  and  Oregon  in  the 
early  days.  We  repeat  that  when  the  war  broke 
out,  the  great  bulk  of  the  yellow  metal  was 
behind  the  Union  army.  Who  don't  recognize 
that  it  was  a  great  power  ?  even  more  than  that, 
it  was  a  controlling  power.  The  Nation  was  to 
be  tried  as  never  before.  Human  slavery  was 
the  prize  for  which  the  South  contended,  while 
human  freedom  soon  asserted  itself,  despite  all 


i  ♦'! 


176 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


Opposition  as  a  contending  force  in  the  North. 
But  the  wisest  were  in  doubt  as  to  results. 
They  could  not  see  how  it  was  possible  that  "  the 
sum  of  all  villainies"  could  be  obliterated.  In 
the  East  and  the  North  and  the  West,  the  boys 
in  blue  flocked  to  the  standard,  and  bayonets 
gleamed  everywhere.  The  plow  was  left  in  the 
furrow,  and  th':2  hum  of  the  machine-shop  was 
not  heard.  The  fires  in  the  furnaces  and  forges 
went  out,  and  multitudes  were  in  despair  over 
the  mighty  struggle  at  hand.  The  Union  might 
have  been  saved  without  the  wealth  of  gold  of 
California  and  Oregon  ;  it  might  have  proved 
victorious,  even  if  the  two  great  loyal  States  of 
the  Pacific  had  been  in  the  hands  of  strangers  or 
enemies,  but  they  were  behind  the  loyal  Union 
army.  And  the  men  marched  and  fought  and 
sung  — 

"  In  the  beauty  of  the  lilies,  Christ  was  born  across  the  sea, 
With  a  glory  in  his  bosom,  that  transfigures  you  and  me  ; 
As  he  died  to  make  men  holy,  let  us  die  to  make  men  free. 
While  God  is  marching  on." 

as  they  marched,  leaving  graves  upon  every 
mountain  side  and  in  every  valley.  Appomatox 
was  reached,  and  lo,  the  chains  dropped  from 
the  limbs  of  six  million  slaves,  and  **  The  flag  of 
beauty  and  glory"  floated  from  Lake  to  Gulf 
and  from  Ocean  to  Ocean,  in  truth  as  in  song  — 


"  O'er  the  land  of  the  free, 
And  the  home  of  the  brave." 


i 


WHITMAN  COLLEGE,  WALLA  WALLA,  WASHINGTON. 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVKD  OREGON. 


177 


Again,  older  readers  will  remember  with 
what  fear  and  trembling  they  opened  their  morn- 
ing papers  for  many  months,  fearing  to  read  that 
England  had  accorded  "  belligerent  rights "  to 
the  Confederacy.  They  will  have  a  vivid  recol- 
lection of  the  eloquent  appeals  of  America's 
greatest  orator,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  as  he 
plead,  as  no  other  man  could,  the  cause  of  the 
Union  in  English  cities.  He  was  backed  up  by 
old  John  Bright,  the  descendants  of  Penn, 
Gurney  and  Wilberforce,  and  the  old-time  ene- 
mies of  human  slavery.  But  it  took  them  all  to 
stem  the  tide.  At  one  time  it  even  seemed  that 
they  had  won  over  Gladstone  to  their  interests. 

While  the  great  masses  of  the  English  people 
were  in  sympathy  with  the  Union  cause,  the 
monied  men  and  commerce  sided  with  the  Con- 
federacy :  "  Cotton  was  King."  They  had  been 
struck  in  a  tender  place  —  their  pockets  and  bank 
accounts.  But  suppose  England  had  owned 
Oregon  and  its  great  interests,  who  don't  see 
that  all  the  danger  would  have  been  multiplied, 
and  our  interests  endangered  ?  There  is  in  this 
no  extravagant  claim  made  that  all  this  was  done 
by  Marcus  Whitman.  The  Ruler  of  the  Uni- 
verse uses  men,  not  a  man,  for  its  direction  and 
government. 

Going  back  upon  the  pages  of  history,  che 
student  sees  Whittier  in  his  study,  and  listens  to 
his  singing  ;  he  sees  Mrs.  Stowe  educating  with 


I  'fi 


178 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Uncle  Tom  in  his  cabin  ;  he  notes  Garrison 
forging  thunderbolts  in  his  Liberator ;  he 
sees  old  Gamaliel  Bailey  with  his  National  Era  ; 
he  sees  Sumner  fall  by  a  bludgeon  in  the  Senate ; 
he  hears  the  eloquent  thundcrings  of  Male  and 
bluff  old  Ben  Wade  and  Giddings  and  Julian 
and  Chase  ;  he  sees  Lovejoy  fall  by  the  hands  of 
his  assassin ;  he  hears  the  guns  of  the  old 
"  fanatic  "  John  Brown,  as  he  began  "  marching 
on";  he  sees  a  great  army  marshalled  for  the 
contest  which  led  up  to  the  election  of  the 
"  Martyr  President,"  and  the  crowning  victories 
which  redeemed  the  grandest  nation  upon  which 
tho  sun  shines  from  the  curse  of  human  slavery. 
Giving  due  credit  to  all,  detracting  no  single 
honor  from  any  one  in  all  the  distinguished 
galaxy  of  honored  names,  and  yet  the  thuoghtful 
student  can  reach  but  one  concli.iion,  and  that 
is,  that  in  the  timeliness  of  his  acts,  in  the  hero- 
ism with  which  they  were  carried  out,  in  the  un- 
selfishness which  marked  every  step  of  the  way, 
and  in  the  wide-reaching  effects  of  his  work,  Dr. 
Marcus  Whitman,  as  a  man  and  patriot  and 
national  benefactor,  was  excelled  by  none. 

Such  unselfish  devotion,  such  obedience  to 
the  call  of  duty,  such  love  of  "  the  flag  that 
makes  you  free,"  such  heroism,  which  never  even 
once  had  an  outcropping  of  personal  benefit,  will 
forever  stand,  when  fully  understood,  as  among 
the  brightest  and  most  inspiring  pages  of  Amer- 
ican history. 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON, 


179 


II 


The  young  American  loves  to  read  of  Paul 
Revere.  He  dwells  with  thrilling  interest  upon 
the  ride  of  the  boy  Archie  Gillespie,  who  saw  the 
great  dam  breaking,  and  at  the  risk  of  his  life 
rode  down  the  valley  of  the  Conemaugh  to 
Johnstown,  shouting,  "  Flee  for  your  lives,  the 
flood,  the  flood!"  The  people  fled  and  two 
minutes  behind  the  boy  rolled  the  mighty  flood 
of  annihilation.  How  painter,  and  poet,  and 
patriot,  lingers  over  the  ride  of  the  gallant  Sher- 
idan "from  Winchester,  twenty  miles  away." 
All  the  honor  is  deserved;  he  saved  an  army 
and  turned  a  defeat  into  victory. 

But  how  do  all  these  compare  with  the  ride 
of  Whitman  ?  It,  too,  was  a  r  iae  for  life  or  death. 
Over  snow-capped  mountains,  along  ravines, 
traveled  only  by  savage  beasts  and  savage  men. 
It  was  a  plunge  through  icy  rivers,  tired,  hungry, 
cold,  and  yet  he  rode  on  and  on,  until  he  stood 
before  the  President,  four  thousand  miles  away! 
Let  us  hope  and  believe  thai  the  time  will  come 
when  Whitman,  standing  before  President  Tyler 
and  Secretary  Webster,  in  his  buckskin  breeches 
and  a  dress  as  we  have  shown,  which  was  never 
woven  in  loom,  will  be  the  subject  of  some  great 
painting.  It  would  be  grandly  historical  and 
tell  a  story  that  a  patriotic  people  should  never 
forget. 

Alice  Wellington  Rollins  wrote  the  following 
poem,  which  was  published  in  the  New  York  In- 


;(1 


t 


i'} 


-t . 


'\\l 


180 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


dependent,  and  widely  copied.  The  Cassell 
Publishing  Company  made  it  one  of  their  gems 
in  their  elegant  volume,  "  Representative  Poems 
of  Living  Poets,"  and  kindly  consent  to  its  use 
in  this  volume: 

WHITMAN'S  RIDE. 

Listen,  my  children,  and  you  shall  hear 

Of  a  hero's  ride  that  saved  a  State. 

A  midnight  ride  ?    Nay,  child,  for  a  year 

He  rode  with  a  message  that  could  not  wait. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  forty-two; 

No  railroad  then  had  gone  crashing  through 

To  the  Western  coast;  not  a  telegraph  wire 

Had  guided  there  the  electric  fire; 

But  a  fire  burned  in  one  strong  man's  breast 

For  a  beacon  light.    You  shall  hear  the  rest. 

He  said  to  his  wife;  "At  the  Fort  to-day,^ 

At  Walla  Walia,  I  heard  them  say 

That  ?  'lundred  British  men  had  crossed 

The  mountains;  and  one  young,  ardent  priest 

Shouted, '  Hurrah  for  Oregon! 

The  Yankees  are  late  by  a  year  at  least! ' 

They  must  know  this  at  once  at  Washington. 

Another  year,  and  all  would  be  lost. 

Someone  r^ust  ride,  to  givj  the  alarm 

Across  the  Continent;  untold  harm 

In  an  hour's  delay,  and  only  I 

Can  make  them  understand  how  or  why 

The  United  States  must  keep  Oregon!  " 

Twenty-four  hours  he  stopped  to  think. 
To  think!    Nay  then,  if  he  thought  at  all, 
He  thought  as  he  tightened  his  saddle-girth. 
One  tried  companion,  who  would  not  shrink 
From  the  wc^st  to  come;  with  a  mule  or  two 
»  Tc  carry  arms  and  supplies,  would  do. 

With  a  guide  as  far  as  Fort  Bent.    And  she. 


i! 


HOW  MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  ORBGON. 


181 


The  woman  of  proud,  heroic  worth, 
Who  must  part  from  him,  if  she  wept  at  all, 
Wept  as  she  gathered  whatever  he 
Might  need  for  the  outfit  on  his  way. 
Fame  for  the  man  who  rode  that  day 
Into  the  wilds  at  his  Country's  call; 
And  for  her  who  waited  for  him  a  year 
On  that  wild  Pacific  Coast,  a  tear! 

Then  he  said  "  Good-bye!"  and  with  Arm-set  lips 
Silently  rode  from  his  cabin  door 
Just  as  the  sun  rose  over  the  tips 
Of  the  phantom  mountain  that  loomed  before 
The  woman  there  in  the  cabin  door, 
With  a  dread  at  her  heart  she  had  not  known 
When  she,  with  him,  had  dared  to  cross 
The  Great  Divide.    None  better  than  she 
Knew  what  the  terribk  ride  would  cost 
As  he  rode,  and  she  waited,  each  alone. 
Whether  all  were  gained  or  all  were  lost, 
No  message  of  either  gain  or  loss 
Could  reach  her;  never  a  greeting  stir 
Her  heart  with  sorrow  or  gladness;  he 
In  another  year  would  come  back  to  her 
If  all  went  well;  and  if  all  went  ill — 
Ah,  God!  could  even  her  courage  still 
The  pain  at  her  heart?    If  the  blinding  snow 
Were  his  winding-sheet,  she  would  never  know; 
If  the  Indian  arrow  pierced  his  side, 
She  would  never  know  where  he  lay  and  died; 
If  the  icy  mountain  torrents  drowned 
His  cry  for  help,  she  would  hear  no  £ound! 
Nay.  none  would  hear,  save  God,  who  knew 
What  she  had  to  bear,  and  he  had  to  do. 
The  clattering  hoof- beats  died  away 
On  the  Walla  Walla.    Ah!  had  she  known 
They  would  echo  in  history  still  to-day 
As  they  echoed  then  from  her  heart  of  stone! 

He  had  left  the  valley.    The  mountains  mock 
His  coming.    Behind  him,  broad  and  deep. 


I) 

m 


vfmmi^mmBgamt 


182 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON 


The  Columbia  meets  the  Pacific  tides; 
JJefore  him— four  thousand  miles  before — 
Four  thousand  miles  from  his  cabin  door, 
The  Potomac  meets  the  Atlantic.    On 
Over  the  trail  grown  rough  and  steep, 
Now  soft  on  the  snow,  now  loud  on  the  rock, 
Is  heard  the  tramp  of  his  steed  as  he  rides. 
The  United  States  must  keep  Oregon. 

It  was  October  when  he  left 

The  Walla  Walla,  though  little  heed 

Paid  he  to  the  season.    Nay,  indeed, 

In  the  lonely  canyons  just  ahead. 

Little  mattered  it  what  the  almanac  said. 

He  heard  the  coyotes  bark;  but  they 

Are  harmless  creatures.    NV>  need  to  fear 

A  deadly  rattlesnake  coiled  :oo  near. 

No  rattlesnake  ever  was  so  bereft 

Of  sense  as  to  creep  out  such  a  day 

In  the  frost.    Nay,  scarce  would  a  grizzly  care 

For  a  sni£f  at  him.    Only  a  man  would  dare 

The  bitter  cold,  in  whose  heart  and  brain 

Burned  the  quenchless  flame  of  a  great  desire; 

A  man  with  nothing  himself  to  gain 

From  success,  but  whose  heart-blood  kept  its  fire 

While  with  freezing  face  he  rode  on  and  on. 

The  United  States  must  keep  Oregon. 

It  was  November  when  they  came 

To  the  icy  stream.    Would  he  hesitate  ? 

Not  he,  the  inan  who  carried  a  State 

At  his  saddle  bow.    They  have  made  the  leap; 

Horse  and  rider  have  plunged  below 

The  icy  current  that  could  not  tame 

Their  proud  life-current's  fiercer  flow. 

They  swim  for  it,  reach  it,  clutch  the  shore, 

Climb  the  river  bank,  cold  and  steep, 

Mount,  and  ride  the  rest  of  that  day, 

Cased  in  an  armor  close  and  fine 

As  ever  an  ancient  warrior  wore; 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON 


183 


Armor  of  ice  that  dared  to  shine 
Back  at  a  sunbeam's  dazzling  ray, 
Fearless  as  plaied  steel  of  old 
Before  that  slender  lance  of  gold. 

It  is  December  as  they  ride 

Slowly  across  the  Great  Divide; 

The  blinding  storm  turns  day  to  night. 

And  clogs  their  feet;  the  snowflakes  roll 

The  winding-sheet  about  them;  sight 

Is  darkened;  faint  the  despairing  soul. 

No  trail  before  or  behind  them.    Spur 

His  horse  ?    Nay,  child,  it  were  death  to  stir ! 

Motionless  horse  and  rider  stand, 

Turning  to  stone;  till  one  poor  mule, 

Pricking  his  ears  as  if  to  say 

If  they  gave  him  rein  he  would  find  the  way. 

Found  it  and  led  them  back,  poor  fool, 

To  last  night's  camp  in  that  lonely  land. 

It  was  February  when  he  rode  * 

Into  St.  Louis.    The  gaping  -.rowd 

Gathered  about  him  with  questions  loud 

And  eager.    He  raised  one  frozen  hand 

With  a  gesture  of  silent,  proud  command; 

"  I  am  here  to  ask,  not  answer !    Tell 

Mc  quick,  is  the  Treaty  signed  ?"    "  V'v  yes ! 

In  August,  six  months  ago  or  less  !" 

Six  months  ago  !    Two  months  before 

The  gay  young  priest  at  the  fortress  showed 

The  English  hand  !    Two  months  before, 

Foujr  months  ago  at  his  cabin  door, 

He  had  saddled  his  horse !    Too  late  then,    "Well, 

But  Oregon  ?    Have  they  signed  the  State 

Away  ?"    "Of  course  not.    Nobody  cares 

About  Oregon."    He  in  silence  bares 

His  head.    "  Thank  God  !     I  am  not  too  late." 

It  was  March  when  he  rode  at  last 
Into  the  streets  of  Washington. 


1S4 


MOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  ORKGOK. 


The  warning  questions  came  thick  and  fast; 

"  Do  you  know  that  the  British  will  colonize, 

If  you  wait  andther  year,  Oregon 

And  the  Northwest,  thirty-six  times  the  size 

Of  Massachusetts  ?"    A  courteous  stare, 

And  the  Government  murmurs:    '*  Ah,  indeed  ! 

Pray,  why  do  you  think  that  we  should  care  ? 

With  Indian  arrows  and  mountain  snow 

Between  us,  we  never  can  colonize 

The  wild  Northwest  from  the  East  you  know, 

If  you  doubt  it,  why,  we  will  let  you  read 

The  London  Examiner ;  proofs  enough 

The  Northwest  is  worth  just  a  pinch  of  snuff." 

And  the  Board  of  Missions  that  sent  him  out. 
Gazed  at  the  worn  and  weary  man 
With  stern  displeasure.    "  Pray,  sir,  who 
Gave  you  orders  to  undertake 
This  journey  hither,  or  to  incur 
Without  due  cause,  such  great  expense 
To  the  Board  ?    Do  you  suppose  we  can 
Overlook  so  grave  an  offense  ? 
And  the  Indian  converts  ?    What  about 
The  little  flock,  for  whose  precious  sake 
We  sent  you  West  ?    Can  it  be  that  you 
Left  them  without  a  shepherd  ?    Most 
Extraordinary  conduct,  sir. 
Thus  to  desert  your  chosen  post." 

Ah,  well !    What  mattered  it !    He  had  dared 
A  hundred  deaths,  in  his  eager  pride, 
To  bring  to  his  Country  at  Washington 
A  message,  for  which,  then,  no  one  cared  ! 
But  Whitman  could  act  as  well  as  ride. 
The  United  States  must  keep  the  Northwest. 
He  —  whatever  might  say  the  rest  — 
Cared,  and  would  colonize  Oregon  ! 

It  was  October,  forty-two, 

When  the  clattering  hoof-beats  died  away 


tlOW  MARCOS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


185 


On  the  Walla  Walla,  that  fateful  day. 

It  was  September,  forty-three  — 

Little  less  than  a  year,  you  see  — 

When  the  woman  who  waited  thought  she  heard 

The  clatter  of  hoot-beats  that  she  knew 

On  the  Walla  Walla  again.    "  What  word 

From  Whitman  ?  "    Whitman  himself !    And  see  ! 

What  do  her  glad  eyes  look  upon  ? 

The  first  of  two  hundred  wagons  rolls 

Into  the  valley  before  her.    He 

Who,  a  year  ago,  had  left  her  side,  ' 

Had  brought  them  over  the  Great  Divide  — 

Men,  women  and  children,  a  thousand  souls  — 

The  army  to  occupy  Oregon. 

You  know  the  rest.    In  the  books  you  have  read 

That  the  British  were  not  a  year  ahead. 

The  United  States  have  kept  Oregon, 

Because  of  one  Marcus  Whitman.    He 

Rode  eight  thousand  miles,  and  was  not  too  late  ! 

In  a  single  hand,  not  a  Nation's  fate, 

Perhaps  ;  but  a  gift  for  the  Nation,  she 

Would  hardly  part  with  it  to-day,  if  we 

May  believe  what  the  papers  say  upon 

This  great  Northwest,  that  was  Oregon. 


And  Whitman  ?    Ah  !  my  children,  he 

And  his  wife  sleep  now  in  a  martyr's  grave ! 

Murdered  !    Murdered,  both  he  and  she 

By  the  Indian  souls  they  went  West  to  save  ! 


IPVPPI 


CHAPTER    IX. 


THE    CHANGE    IN    PUBLIC   SENTIMENT. 


The  reader  of  history  seldom  sees  a  more 
notable  instance  of  a  changed  public  sentiment, 
than  he  can  find  in  the  authentic  records  dating 
from  March,  1843,  ^o  July,  1846.  If  tht;  epitome 
sketch  made  in  another  chapter  has  been  studied 
the  conditions  now  to  be  observed  are  phe- 
nomenal. Statesman  after  statesman  puts  him- 
self on  record.  You  hear  no  more  of  "  No  wagon 
road  to  Oregon,"  "That  weary,  desert  road," 
those  "Impassable  mountains;"  nor  does  Mr.  Mc- 
Duffie  jump  up  to  "Thank  God  for  His  mercy, 
for  the  impassable  barrier  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains." No  Mr.  Benton  arises  and  asks  that 
"  The  statue  of  the  fabled  God  Terminus  should 
be  erected  on  the  highest  peak,  never  to  be 
thrown  down."  Nor  does  Mr.  Jackson  appeal 
for  "A  compact  Government." 

Before  the  man  clothed  in  buckskin  left  the 
National  Capital,  a  message  was  on  the  way  to 


186 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVEO  OREGON. 


187 


our  Minister  to  England  proclaiming  "The 
United  States  will  consent  to  give  nothing  be- 
low the  latitude  of  forty-nine  degrees."  When 
it  was  known  that  a  great  caravan  of  two  hun- 
dred wagons  and  one  thousand  Americans  had 
started  for  Oregon,  a  second  message  went  to 
Minister  Everett  still  more  pointed  and  positive, 
"The  United  States  will  never  consent  that  the 
boundary  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  shall  move 
one  foot  below  the  latitude  of  forty-nine  degrees." 
It  is  a  historical  fact  that  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  of  the  wagons  went  through. 

The  whole  people  began  to  talk,  as  well  as 
to  think  and  act.  They  had  suddenly  waked  up 
to  a  great  peril,  and  were  casting  about  how  to 
meet  it.  A  political  party  painted  upon  its  ban- 
ners, "Oregon,  fifty-four  forty,  or  fight."  Multi- 
tudes of  those  now  living  remember  this  great 
uprising  of  the  people.  How  was  it  done?  Who 
did  it?  Was  it  a  spontaneous  move  without  a 
reason?  Intelligent  readers  can  scan  the  facts 
of  history  and  judge  for  themselves.  But  it  is 
cii  historical  fact  there  was  a  remarkably  sudden 
change. 

President  Tyler,  and  his  great  Secretary, 
Webster,  during  the  balance  of  his  administra- 
tion, used  all  the  arts  of  diplomacy,  and  seemed 
to  make  but  little  progress,  except  a  promise  of 
a  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  treat  with  the 
United  States.     At  any  time  prior  to  the  arrival 


Ml 


li 


i8d 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  6RB00N. 


of  Marcus  Whitman  in  Washington,  or  any  time 
during  the  conference  upon  the  Ashburton 
Treaty,  had  the  English  diplomats  proposed  to 
run  the  boundary  line  upon  forty-nine  degrees 
until  it  struck  the  Columbia  River,  and  down 
that  river  to  the  ocean,  there  is  multiplied  evi- 
dence that  the  United  States  would  have  accepted 
it  at  once. 

But  England  did  not  want  a  part,  she  wanted 
all.  During  the  negotiations  in  1827  as  to  the 
renewal  of  the  Treaty  of  18 18,  her  commissioners 
stated  the  case  diplomatically,  thus:  "Great 
Britain  claims  no  exclusive  sovereignty  over  any 
portion  of  that  territory.  Her  present  claim  is 
not  in  respect  to  any  part,  but  to  the  whole  and  is 
limited  to  a  right  of  joint  occupancy  in  common 
with  other  States,  leaving  the' right  of  exclusive 
dominion  in  abeyance." 

Some  have  urged  that  this  was  a  give  away 
and  a  quit  claim  on  the  part  of  England,  but  at 
most,  it  is  only  the  language  of  diplomacy,  to  be 
interpreted  by  the  acts  of  the  party  in  contest. 
Those  who  met  and  know  the  men  in  power  in 
Oregon  in  those  pioneer  days,  can  fully  attest 
the  assertion  of  the  Edinburgh  Review  in  an  arti- 
cle published  in  1843,  after  Whitman's  visit  to 
Washington.  It  says:  "They  are  chiefly  Scotch- 
men, and  a  greater  proportion  of  shrewdness, 
daring  and  commercial  activity  is  probably  not 
to  be  found  in  the  same  number  of  heads  in  the 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


180 


world."  They  made  their  grand  mistake,  how- 
ever, that  while  being  true  Britons,  they  were 
Hudson  Bay  Company  men  first  and  foremost, 
and  were  anxious  to  keep  out  all  immigration. 
None  better  knew  the  value  of  Oregon  lands  for 
the  purposes  of  the  agriculturist,  than  those 
"shrewd  Oid  Scotchmen"  did. 

About  every  trading  post  they  had  cleared 
farms,  planted  orchards  and  vineyards,  and 
tested  all  kinds  of  grains.  Mrs.  Whitman,  in  her 
diary  of  September  14th,  1836,  speaking  of  her 
visit  to  Fort  Vancouver,  says,  "We  were  invited 
to  see  the  farm.  We  rode  for  fifteen  miles  dur- 
ing the  afternoon  and  visited  the  farms  and 
stock,  etc.  They  estimate  their  wheat  crop  this 
year  at  four  thousand  bushels,  peas  the  same, 
oats  and  barley  fifteen  and  seventeen  hundred 
bushels  each.  The  potato  and  turnip  fields  are 
large  and  fine.  Their  cattle  are  large  and  fine 
and  estimated  at  one  thousand  head.  They 
have  swine  in  abundance,  also  sheep  and  goats, 
but  the  sheep  are  of  an  inferior  quality.  We 
also  find  hens,  turkeys  and  pigeons,  but  no  geese. 
Every  day  we  have  something  new.  The  store- 
houses are  filled  from  top  to  bottom  with  un- 
broken bales  of  goods,  made  up  of  every  article 
of  comfort." 

She  tells  of  "  A  new  and  improved  method  of 
raising  cream"  for  butter  making,  and  "The 
abundant  supply  of  the  best  cheese," 


K' 


3 


nm 


100 


now    MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVI.!>   OKKGON. 


In  another  note  she  gives  the  menu  for  din- 
ner. "First,  wc  are  treated  to  soup,  which  is 
very  good,  made  of  all  kinds  of  vcj^etables,  with 
a  little  rice.  Tomatoes  are  a  prominent  vege- 
table. After  soup  the  dishes  are  removed  and 
roast  duck,  pork,  tripe,  lish,  salmon  or  sturgeon, 
with  other  things  too  tedious  to  mention.  When 
these  are  removed  a  rice  pudding  or  apple  pie 
is  served  with  musk  melons,  cheese,  biscuits  and 
wine." 

Shrewd  Scotsmen!  And  yet  this  is  the  coun- 
try which  for  years  thereafter  American  States- 
men declared  "A  desert  waste,"  "Unfit  for  the 
habitation  of  civilized  society,"  and  from  which 
our  orators  thanked  Heaven  they  were  "separ- 
ated by  insurmountable  barriers  of  mountains," 
and  "impassable  deserts."  We  repeat,  none 
better  knew  the  value  of  Oregon  soil  for  the 
purposes  of  agriculture,  than  did  these  princely 
retainers  of  England,  and  they  well  knew,  that 
when  agriculture  and  civilization  gained  a  foot- 
hold, both  they  and  their  savage  retainers  would 
be  compelled  to  move  on.  They  held  a  bonanza 
of  wealth  in  their  hands,  in  a  land  of  Arcadia, 
which  they  ruled  to  suit  themselves. 

It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  they  made  the 
fight  they  did,  they  had  in  1836,  feared  the  ad- 
vent of  Dr.  Whitman's  old  wagon,  more  than  an 
army  with  banners.  They  had  tried  in  every 
way  in  their  power,  except  by  absolute  force,  to 


HOW    MAKC   S   WHITMAN    SWliU   OREGON. 


101 


arrest  its  progress.  They  foresaw  that  every 
turn  of  its  wheels  upon  Oregon  soil,  endangered 
fur.  Those  in  command  at  Fort  Hall  and  For* 
Boise  were  warned  to  be  more  watchful.  The 
consequence  was  that  not  another  wheel  was 
permitted  to  go  beyond  those  Forts,  from  1836 
to  1843.  Dr.  Edwards,  however,  reports  that 
"Dr.  Robert  Newell  brought  three  wagons 
through  to  Walla  Walla  in  1840." 

But  the  fact  remains  that  wagon  after  wagon 
was  abandoned  at  those  points  and  the  things 
necessary  for  the  comfort  of  the  immigrant  were 
sacrificed,  and  men,  women  and  children  were 
compelled  to  take  to  the  pack-saddle,  or  journey 
the  balance  of  the  weary  way  on  foot.  Great 
stress  was  laid  at  these  points  of  entrance,  upon 
the  dangers  of  the  route  to  Oregon,  and  the 
comparative  ease  and  comfort  of  the  journey  to 
California.  Hundreds  were  thus  induced  to  give 
up  the  journey  to  Oregon,  in  making  which  they 
would  be  forced  to  abandon  their  wagons  and 
goods,  and  they  turned  their  faces  toward  Cali- 
fornia. 

General  Palmer,  in  speaking  of  this,  says, 
"While  at  Fort  Hall  in  1842,  the  perils  of  the 
way  to  Oregon  were  so  magnified  as  to  make  us 
suppose  the  journey  thither  was  impossible. 
They  represented  the  dangers  in  passing  over 
Snake  River  and  the  Columbia  as  very  great. 
That  but  little  stock    had   ever  crossed  those 


i 


J 


i 


Ill:ii 


VJ'll 


192 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Streams  in  safety.  And  more  and  [worst  of 
all,  they  represented  that  three  or  four  tribes  of 
Indians  along  the  route  had  combined  to  resist 
all  immigration."  They  represented  that,  "  Fam- 
ine and  the  snows  of  winter  Would  overtake  all 
with  destruction,  before  they  could  reach  Ore- 
gon. 

They  did  succeed  in  scaring  this  band  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  men,  women  and 
children  in  1842  into  leaving  all  their  wagons 
behind,  but  they  went  on  to  Oregon  on  pack- 
saddles. 

In  the  meantime  they  ran  a  literary  bureau 
for  all  it  was  worth,  in  the  disparagement  of 
Oregon  for  all  purposes  except  those  of  the  fur 
trader.  The  English  press  was  mainly  depended 
upon  for  this  work,  but  the  best  means  in  reach 
were  used  that  all  these  statements  should  reach 
the  ruling  powers  and  the  reading  people  of  the 
United  States. 

The  effect  of  this  literary  bureau  upon  Ameri- 
can statesmen  and  the  most  intelligent  class  of 
readers  prior  to  the  Spring  of  1843,  is  easily  seen 
by  the  sentiments  quoted,  and  by  their  published 
acts,  in  refusing  to  legislate  for  Oregon. 
Modern  historians  have  said  that,  "The  Hudson 
Bay  Company  and  the  English  never  at  any 
time  claimed  anything  .south  of  the  Columbia 
river."  Such  a  statement  can  nowhere  be 
proveu  from  any  official  record;  on  the  contrary, 


ilii' 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  ORKGON. 


193 


there  are  multiplied  expressions  and  acts  prov- 
ing the  opposite. 

As  early  as  the  year  1828,  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  saw  the  value  of  the  Falls  of  the  Wil- 
lamette at  Oregon  City  for  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, and  took  possession  of  the  same;  as  Gov- 
ernor Simpson  in  command  of  the  Company 
said,  "To  establish  a  British  Colony  of  their 
retired  servants."  "Governor  Simpson,"  says 
Dr.  Eells  in  his  "History  of  Indian  Missions," 
"said  in  1841  that  the  colonists  in  the  Willamette 
Valley  were  British  subjects,  and  that  the 
English  had  no  rivals  on  the  coast  but  Russia, 
and  that  the  United  States  will  never  possess 
more  than  a  nominal  jurisdiction,  nor  will  long 
possess  even  that,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains."  And  he  added,  "Supposing  the 
country  to  be  divided  to-morrow  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  the  most  unscrupulous  patriot  in 
the  Union,  I  challenge  conquest  to  bring  my 
prediction  and  its  own  power  to  the  test  by 
imposing  the  Atlantic  tariff  on  the  ports  of  the 
Pacific." 

Such  sentiments  from  the  Governor,  the  man 
then  in  supreme  power,  who  moulded  and 
directed  English  sentiments,  is  of  deep  signifi- 
cance. A  man  only  second  in  influence  to  Gov- 
ernor Simpson  and  even  a  much  broader  and 
brainier  man.  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  Factor  of 
the  Company,   "said  to   me  in   1842,"  says  Dr. 

18 


I 
•If; 

ii 


1 1 
:  I 
>  t  -i 


•'u 


194 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVED    OREGON. 


1     '^ 
•ill 


fllll 


"ill! 


/^'-T 


Eeils,  "that  in  fifty  years  the  whole  country  will 
be  filled  with  the  descendants  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company."  But  while  they  believed,  just 
as  the  American  immigrants  did,  that  as  a  result 
of  the  Treaty  of  1818-28,  the  country  would 
belong  to  the  nationality  settling  it;  yet  they  had 
so  long  held  supreme  power  that  they  were  slow 
to  think  that  such  power  was  soon  to  pass  from 
them. 

That  the  diplomacy  of  the  home  Government, 
the  bold  methods  and  "The  shrewdness,  daring 
and  commercial  activity  in  the  heads"  of  the 
Rulers,  that  the  Edinburgh  Review  pictures,  were 
all  to  be  thwarted  and  that  speedily,  had  not 
entered  into  their  calculations,  and  they  did  not 
awake  to  a  sense  of  the  real  danger  until  those 
hundred  and  twenty-five  wagons,  loaded  with 
live  Americans  and  their  household  goods, 
rolled  down  the  mountain  sides  and  into  the 
Valley  of  the  Willamette  on  that  memorable 
October  day,  1843. 

It  was  America's  protest,  made  in  an  Ameri- 
can fashion.  It  settled  the  question  of  Ameri- 
can interests  as  far  as  Americans  could  settle 
it  under  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  18.18,  as  they 
understood  it.  ' 

Under  the  full  belief  that  Whitman  would 
bring  with  him  a  large  delegation,  the  Ameri- 
cans met  aiid  organized  before  he  reached 
Oregon.     And    when    the    Whitman    caravan 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


195 


lid 
ri- 
ed 
an 


arrived,  they  outnumbered  the  English  and 
Canadian  forces  three  to  one;  and  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  were  run  up,  never  again  to  be  hauled 
down  by  any  foreign  power  in  all  the  wide 
domain  of  Oregon. 

True,  there  was  yet  a  battle  to  be  fought. 
The  interests  at  stake  were  too  grand  for  the 
party  who  held  supreme  power  so  long  to  yield 
without  a  contest.  But  there  v^ere  rugged,  brave, 
intelligent  American  citizens  now  in  Oregon, 
and  there  to  stay.  They  had  f.  )ded  home  peo- 
ple with  letters  describing  the  salubrity  of  the 
climate  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  Statesmen 
heard  of  it. 

Sudden  conversions  some  times  make  un- 
reasonable converts.  The  very  men  who  had 
rung  the  changes  upon  "worthless,"  "barren," 
"cut  off  by  impassable  deserts,"  now  turned  and 
not  only  claimed  the  legitimate  territory  up  to 
forty-nine  degrees,  but  made  demands  which 
were  heard  across  the  Atlantic.  We  will  have 
"Oregon  and  fifty-four  forty,  or  fight." 

In  a  lengthy  message  in  December,  1845, 
President  Polk  devotes  nearly  one-fifth  of  his 
space  to  the  discussion  of  the  Oregon  question, 
and  rehearses  the  discussion  pro  and  con  be- 
tween the  two  governments  and  acknowledges, 
that  thus  far  there  has  been  absolute  failure.  He 
tells  Congress  that "  The  proposition  of  compro- 
mise, v/hich  was  made  and  rejected,  was,  by  my 


I'll 


'Si 


.  ?  1 


r^ta 


196 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


order,  subsequently  withdrawn,  and  our  title  up 
to  54°  40'  asserted,  and,  as  it  is  believed,  main- 
tained by  irrefragable  facts  and  arguments."  In 
that  message.  President  Polk  argued  in  favor  of 
terminating  the  joint  occupancy  by  giving  the 
stipulated  notice,  and  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  be  extended  over  the  entire  terri- 
tory, with  a  line  of  military  posts  along  the  en- 
tire frontier  to  the  Pacific. 

It  all  seemed  warlike.  The  withdrawing  of 
"the  joint  occupancy,"  many  statesmen  believed 
would  precipitate  a  war.  Senator  Crittenden 
and  others  believed  such  to  be  the  case.  War 
seemed  inevitable.  Even  Senator  McDuffie, 
whom  we  have  before  quoted,  as  unwilling  to 
"Give  a  pinch  of  snuff  for  all  the  territory  be- 
yond the  Rockies,"  now  is  on  record  saying, 
"  Rather  make  that  territory  the  grave  of  Amer- 
icans, and  color  the  soil  with  their  blood,  than  to 
surrender  one  inch."  While  it  was  generally 
conceded  that  we  would  have  a  war,  yet  there 
were  wise,  cool-headed  men  in  the  Halls  of 
National  Legislation,  determined  to  avert  such 
disaster  if  possible,  without  sacrificing  National 
honor. 

The  debate  on  giving  legal  notice  to  cancel 
the  Treaty  of  1818,  as  to  joint  occupancy,  was  the 
absorbing  theme  of  Congress,  and  lasted  for 
forty  days  before  reaching  a  vote,  and  then  passed 
by  the  great  majority  of  109. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


197 


:d 


But  the  Senate  was  more  conservative  and, 
continued  the  debate  after  the  measure  had 
passed  the  House  by  such  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority. They  saw  the  whole  Country  already  in 
a  half  paralyzed  condition.  Its  business  had  de- 
creased, its  capital  was  withdrawn  from  active 
participation  in  business,  and  its  vessels  stood 
empty  at  the  wharves  of  ports  of  entry.  Such 
statesmen  as  Crittenden  and  others  who  had 
not  hurried  to  get  in  front  of  the  excited  people, 
now  saw  the  necessity  for  ccided  action  to  avert 
war  and  secure  peace.  To  brave  public  opinion 
and  antagonize  the  Lower  House  of  Congress 
required  the  largest  courage. 

Mr.  Crittenden  said,  "  I  believe  yet,  a  major- 
ity is  still  in  favor  of  preserving  the  p>eace,  if  it 
can  de  done  without  dishonor.  They  favor  the 
settling  of  the  questions  in  dispute  peaceably 
and  honorably,  to  compromi.a  by  negotiations 
and  arbitration,  or  some  other  mode  known  and 
recognized  among  nations  as  suitable  and  proper 
and  honorable." 

Mr.  Webster  had  been  too  severely  chastised 
by  both  friends  and  enemies  for  his  part  in  the 
Ashburton  Treaty,  to  make  him  anxious  to  be 
prominent  in  the  discussion  in  the  earlier  weeks, 
but  when  he  did  speak  he  pointed  out  the  very 
road  which  the  Nation  would  travel  in  its  way 
for  peace;  viz.:  a  compromise  upon  latitude  forty- 
nine. 


■  { I 

'  ■:  I 
'1 


M. 


198 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Webster  said,  "  In  my  opinion  it  is  not  the 
judgment  of  this  country,  no  •  the  judgment  of 
the  Senate,  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  should  run  the  hazard  of  a  war  for  Ore- 
gon by  renouncing,  as  no  longer  fit  for  consider- 
ation, the  proposition  of  adjustment  made  by 
this  Government  thirty  years  ago  and  repeated 
in  the  face  of  the  world."  His  great  speech, 
which  extended  through  the  sessions  of  two  days, 
was  a  masterly  defense  and  explanation  of  the 
Ashburton-Webster  Treaty,  which  was  signed 
three  years  before. 

No  American  Statesman  of  the  time  had  so 
full  and  complete  a  knowledge  of  the  questions 
at  issue  as  had  Webster.  He  had  canvassed 
every  one  of  them  in  all  their  bearings  with  the 
shrewdest  English  diplomats,  and  had  nothing 
to  learn.  His  great  speech  can  be  marked  as 
the  turning  point  in  the  discussion,  and  the 
friends  of  peace  took  fresh  coui  age. 

The  first  and  ablest  aid  Mr.  Webster  received 
was  from  Calhoun,  then  second  to  none  in  his 
influence.  In  his  speech  he  said,  "What  has 
transpired  here  and  in  England  within  the  last 
three  months  must,  I  think,  show  that  the  public 
opinion  in  both  countries  is  coming  to  a  conclu- 
sion that  this  controversy  ought  to  be  settled, 
and  is  not  very  diverse  in  the  one  country  or 
the  other,  as  to  the  general  basis  of  such  settle- 
ment. That  basis  is  the  offer  made  by  the  United 
States  to  England  in  1826." 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   ORKGON. 


199 


It  may  here  be  observed  that  President  Mon- 
roe offered  to  compromise  on  forty-nine  degrees. 
President  Adams  did  the  same  in  1826,  while 
President  Tyler,  in  the  year  of  Whitman's  visit 
(1843),  again  offered  the  same  compromise,  and 
England  had  rejected  each  and  all.  She  ex- 
pected a  much  larger  slice. 

Gen.  Cass  followed  Ca'.houn  in  a  fiery  war 
speech,  which  called  out  the  applause  of  the 
multitude,  in  which  he  claimed  that  the  United 
States  owned  the  territory  up  to  the  Russian 
line  of  54°  40'  and  he  ''Would  press  the  claim  at 
the  peril  of  war." 

Dayton  and  other  Senators  asked  that  present 
conditions  be  maintained,  and  that  "  The  people 
of  the  United  States  meet  Great  Britain  by  a 
practical  adoption  of  her  own  doctrine,  that  the 
title  of  the  country  should  pass  to  those  who 
occupied  it." 

This  latter  view  was  the  pioneer  view  of  the 
situation,  and  which  was  so  fully  believed  as  to 
cause  the  memorable  ride  of  Whitman  in  mid- 
winter from  Oregon  to  Washington.  The  reso- 
lution of  notice  to  the  English  Government,  as 
we  have  seen,  passed  the  Ho:  ^e  Feb.  9,  1846, 
and  came  to  a  vote  and  passe  1  the  Senate  April 
23d,  by  42  to  10.  It,  however,  contained  two 
important  amendments  to  the  House  resolution, 
both  suggestive  of  compromise.  And  as  the 
President  was  allowed  "At  his  discretion  to  serve 


■ 


i 


200 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


:!• 


•''■II, 


m 


the  notice,"  the  act  was  shorn  of  much  of  its 
warlike  meaning. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  President's 
message  and  recommendations  were  made  on 
the  2d  of  Dec.  1845,  and  the  question  had  ab- 
sorbed the  attention  of  Congress  until  April  23, 
1846,  before  final  action,  it  can  be  marked  as  one 
of  the  most  memorable  discussions  that  has  ever 
occurred  in  our  Halls  of  National  Legislation. 

It  had  now  been  three  years  since  Whitman 
had  made  his  protest  to  President  Tyler  and  his 
Secretary;  and  while  Congress  had  debated  and 
the  whole  Nation  was  at  a  white  heat  of  interest, 
the  old  pioneers  had  gone  on  settling  the  ques- 
tion in  their  own  way  by  taking  possession  of  the 
land,  building  themselves  homes,  erecting  a 
State  House,  and,  although  four  thousand  miles 
distant  from  the  National  Capital,  enacting  laws 
in  keeping  with  American  teachings,  and  de- 
meaning themselves  as  bf'^ame  good  citizens. 
Love  of  Country,  with  sacrifices  made  to  do 
honor  to  the  flag,  has  seldom  had  a  more  beauti- 
ful and  impressive  illustration  than  that  given 
by  the  old  pioneers  of  Oregon  during  the  years 
of  their  neglect  by  the  home  Government,  which 
even  seemed  so  far  distant  that  it  had  lost  all 
interest  in  their  welfare. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE    FAILURE   OF    MODERN     HISTORY    TO    DO   JUSTICE 
TO    DR.    WHITMAN. 


Says  an  old  author:  "History  is  a  river  in- 
creasing in  volume  with  every  mile  of  its  length, 
and  the  tributaries  that  join  it  nearer  and  nearer 
the  Sea  are  taken  up  and  swept  onward  by  a 
current  that  grows  ever  mightier."  Napoleon 
said:  "History  is  a  fable  agreed  upon."  If  Na- 
poleon could  have  looked  downward  to  the  clos- 
ing years  of  this  century,  and  seen  the  genius  of 
the  literary  world  striving  to  do  him  honor,  he 
would  perhaps  have  modified  the  sentiment. 

H  istory  at  its  best,  is  a  collection  of  biographies 
of  the  World's  great  leaders,  and  is  best  studied 
in  biography.  To  be  of  value,  it  must  be  accu- 
rate. Scarcely  has  any  great  leader  escaped 
from  the  stings  of  history,  but  it  is  well  to  know 
and  believe  that  time  will  correct  the  wrong. 
The  case  of  Dr.  Whitman  is  peculiar  in  the  fact 


201 


202 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


that  all  his  contemporaries  united  in  doing  him 
honor,  save  and  except  one,  Bishop  Brouillet. 
The  men  who  knew  the  value  of  his  work  and 
his  eminent  services,  such  as  Grey,  Reed,  Simp- 
son, Barrows  and  Parkman;  the  correspond- 
ence of  Spalding,  Lovejoy,  Eells,  and  the  Lees, 
have  made  the  record  clear. 

It  has  been  reserved  for  modern  historians  of 
that  class  who  have  just  discovered  the  "Mis- 
take">  of  Moses,"  and  that  Shakespeare  never 
wrote  Shakespeare's  plays,  to  indulge  in  sneers 
and  scoffs  and  to  falsify  the  record.  It  is  not 
the  intention  to  attempt  to  reply  to  all  these, 
but  we  shall  notice  the  fallacies  of  two  or  three. 
In  a  recent  edition  of  the  history  of  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  Expedition,  published  by  F.  P.  Harper, 
New  York,  and  edited  by  Dr.  Elliott  Coues,  a 
most  entertaining  volume,  and  yet  wholly  mis- 
leading as  to  the  final  issue  which  resulted  in 
Oregon  'jecoming  a  part  of  the  Republic,  Dr. 
Coues  in  his  dedication  of  the  volume  says: 

"To  the  people  of  the  great  West:  Jefferson 
gave  you  the  country.  Lewis  and  Clark  showed 
you  the  way.  The  rest  is  your  own  course  of 
empire.  Honor  the  Statesman  who  foresaw 
your  West.  Honor  the  brave  men  who  first  saw 
your  West.  May  the  memory  of  their  glorious 
achievement  be  your  precious  heritage.  Accept 
from  my  heart  this  undying  record  of  the  begin- 
ning of  all  your  greatness.     Elliott  Coues." 


I 

-I 


If 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OKBGON. 


208 


All  honor  to  Jefferson,  the  far-sighted  States- 
man; and  a  like  honor  to  the  courageous  explor- 
ers, Lewis  and  Clark;  but  the  writer  of  history 
should  be  true  to  facts.  Lewis  and  Clark  were 
not  "The  first  men  who  saw  your  West."  They 
were  not  the  discoverers  of  Oregon.  Old  Cap- 
tain Gray  did  that  a  dozen  years  prior  to  the 
visit  of  Lewis  and  Clark.  A  writer  of  true  his- 
tory should  not  have  blinded  his  eyes  to  that 
fact  on  his  dedicatory  page.  Captain  Gray  sailed 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  on  his 
good  ship  Columbia,  from  Boston,  on  May  7th, 
1792.  The  great  River  was  named  for  his  vessel. 
This,  together  with  the  title  gained  by  the 
Louisiana  purchase  in  1803,  and  the  Treaty  with 
Spain  and  Mexico,  more  fully  recited  in  another 
chapte.,  made  the  claim  of  the  United  States  to 
ownership  in  the  soil  of  Oregon. 

The  mission  of  Lewis  and  Clark  was  not 
that  of  discoverers,  but  to  spy  out  and  report 
upon  the  value  of  the  discovery  alr'^ady  made. 
Their  work  required  rare  courage,  and  was  ac- 
complished with  such  intelligence  as  to  make 
them  heroes;  and  both  were  rewarded  with  fat 
offices;  one  as  the  Governor  of  Louisiana,  and 
the  other  as  General  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs;  and  both  were  given  large  land  grants. 
We  have  not  been  al)le  to  see  in  any  of  Dr. 
Coues'  full  notes,  any  explanation  of  such  facts, 
but  even  if  he  has  given  such  explanation,  he 


'I 
If: 


204 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


had  no  right,  as  a  truthful  chronicler  of  history, 
to  mislead  the  reader  by  his  highly  ornate  dedi- 
catory: "Jefferson  gave  you  the  country,  Lewis 
and  Clark  showed  you  the  way." 

President  Jefferson  was  much  more  of  a  seer 
and  statesman  than  were  his  compeers.  The 
Louisiana  purchase,  to  him,  was  much  more  than 
gaining  possession  of  the  State  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  with  its  rich  acres  for  the 
use  of  slave-owners  of  the  South.  In  his  later 
years  he  said:  "I  looked  forward  with  grati- 
fication to  the  time  when  the  descendants 
of  the  settlers  of  Oregon  would  spread  them- 
selves through  the  whole  length  of  the  coast, 
covering  it  with  free,  independent  Americans, 
unconnected  with  us,  but  by  the  ties  of  blood 
and  interest,  and  enjoying,  like  us,  the  rights  of 
self-government." 

Tf  the  old  Statesman  could  view  the  scene  and 
the  condition  now,  how  much  grander  would  be 
the  view!  It  would  be  unjust  to  question  the  in- 
terest of  President  Jefferson  in  the  North-West 
Territory;  the  great  misfortune  was,  that  the 
statesmen  of  his  day  were  almost  wholly  obliv- 
ious to  his  appeals.  The  report  made  by  the 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  was  stuffed  into  a 
pigeon  hole,  and  was  not  even  published  until 
eight  years  after  the  exploration,  and  after  one 
of  the  explorers  was  dead.  It  was  not  received 
with  a  single  ripple  of  enthusiasm  by  Congress 


now   MAKCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


205 


or  the  people  of  the  Nation.  The  Government, 
on  the  contrary,  fourteen  years  after  the  advent 
of  Lewis  and  Clark  in  Oregon,  entered  into  a 
treaty  with  England,  which  virtually  gave  the 
English  people  the  control  of  the  entire  country 
for  more  than  the  first  third  of  the  century.  The 
most  that  can  be  said  of  Lewis  and  Clark  is  that 
they  were  faithful  explorers,  who  blazed  the  way 
which  Americans  failed  to  travel,  until  in  the 
fullness  of  time,  a  man  appeared  who  led  the 
way  and  millions  followed. 

Among  the  most  pointed  defamers  of  Dr. 
Whitman  is  Mrs.  Frances  F.  Victor,  of  Oregon, 
author  of  "The  River  of  the  West,"  who  seldom 
loses  an  opportunity  to  attempt  to  belittle  the 
man  and  his  work.  In  a  communication  to  the 
Chicago  Inter  Ocean,  she  openly  charges  that 
his  journey  to  Washington  in  the  winter  of  1842 
and  '43  was  wholly  for  selfish  interests.  She 
charges  that  he  was  about  to  be  removed  from 
his  Mission  and  wanted  to  present  his  case  before 
the  American  Board.  That  he  wanted  his  Mis- 
sion as  "  A  stopping  place  for  immigrants."  In 
other  words,  it  was  for  personal  and  pecuniary 
gain,  that  he  made  the  perilous  ride.  We  quote 
her  exact  language: 

"That  there  was  considerable  practical  self- 
interest  in  his  desire  to  be  left  to  manage  the 
Mission  as  he  thought  best,  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion.    It  was  not  for  the  Indians,  altogether,  he 


f^ 


:1 


206 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


'  ll 

i 


wished  to  remain.  He  foresav/  the  wealth  and 
importance  of  the  country  and  that  his  place  must 
become asupply station  totheannual  emigrations. 
Instead  of  making  high-comedy  speeches  to  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  State,  he  talked  with 
them  about  the  Indians,  and  what  would,  in  his 
opinion,  be  the  best  thing  to  be  done  for  them 
and  for  the  white  settlers.  His  visit  was,  owing 
to  the  necessity  that  existed  of  explaining  to  the 
Board  better  than  he  could  by  letter,  and  more 
quickly,  his  reasons  for  wishing  to  remain  at  his 
Station,  and  to  convince  them  it  was  for  the 
best."  Says  Mrs.  Victor,  "  The  Missionaries  zdl 
believed  that  the  United  States  would  finally  se- 
cure a  title  to  at  least  that  portion  of  Oregon 
south  of  the  Columbia  River,  out  of  whose  rich 
lands  they  would  be  given  large  tracts  by  the 
Government,  and  that  was  reason  enough  for  the 
loyalty  exhibited." 

She  openly  charges  that  "  Dr.  Whitman  acted 
deceitfully  toward  a41  the  other  members  of  the 
Mission."  If  such  were  true,  is  it  it  not  strange 
that  in  all  the  years  that  followed,  every  man  and 
woman  among  them  were  his  staunchest  and 
truest  friends  and  most  valiant  defenders  ?  She 
proceeds  to  call  Whitman  "  Ignorant  and  con- 
ceited to  believe  that  he  influenced  Secretary 
Webster."  That  the  story  of  his  suffering,  frost- 
bitten condition  was  false.  "  He  was  not  frost- 
bitten, or  he  would  have  been  incapacitated  to 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


207 


travel,"  etc.  Mrs.  Victor  makes  a  grave  charge 
against  Whitman.  She  says  :  "  He  got  well  to  do 
by  selling  flour  and  grain  and  vegetables  to  immi- 
grants at  high  prices."  Now,  let  us  allow  Dr. 
Spalding  to  answer  this  calumny.  He  knew 
Whitman  and  his  work  as  well,  or  better  than 
any  other  man.     Dr.  Spalding  says  : 

"  Immigrants,  by  hundreds  and  thousand?, 
reached  the  Mission,  way-worn,  hungry,  sick,  and 
destitute,  but  he  cared  for  all.  Seven  children 
of  one  famfly  were  left  upon  the  hands  of  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Whitman  —  one  a  babe  four  months 
old  —  and  they  cared  for  them  all,  giving  food, 
clothing,  and  medicine  without  pay.  Frequently, 
the  Doctor  would  give  away  his  entire  food  sup- 
ply, and  have  to  send  to  me  for  grain  to  get 
through  the  Winter." 

She  pointedly  denies  that  Dr.  Whitman  went 
to  Washington  or  the  States  with  the  expectation 
of  bringing  out  settlers  to  Oregon. 

The  letters  recently  published  by  the  State 
Historical  Society  of  Oregon,  quoted  in  another 
chapter,  were  written  by  Dr.  Whitman  the  year 
following  his  famous  journey.  In  them  he  clearly 
reveals  the  reasons  for  the  ride  to  Washington. 
The  reader  can  believe  Dr.  Whitman  or  believe 
Mrs.  Victor,  but  both  can  not  be  believed. 

In  addition  to  these  letters,  we  have  the  clear 
testimony  of  General  Lovejoy,  who  went  with 
him  *  of  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding,  of  Elkanah  Walker, 


I'' 


!i 


208 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Dr.  Gray,  Rev.  Gushing  Eells,  P.  B.  Whitman, 
who  accompanied  him  on  his  return  trip ;  Mr. 
Hinman,  Dr.  S.  J.  Parker,  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  and 
the  Rev.  William  Barrows,  who  had  frequent 
conversations  with  him  in  St.  Louis.  In  an  inter- 
view with  Dr.  William  Geiger,  published  in  the 
New  York  Sun,  January  17th,  1885,  he  says  :  "I 
was  at  Fort  Walla  Walla,  and  associated  directly 
with  Dr.  Whitman  when  he  started  East  to  save 
Oregon.  I  was  there  when  he  returned,  and  I 
am,  perhaps,  the  only  living  person  who  distinctly 
recollects  all  the  facts.  He  left,  not  to  go  to  St. 
Louis  or  to  Boston,  but  for  the  distinct  purpose 
of  going  to  Washington  to  save  Oregon  ;  and 
yet  he  had  to  be  very  discreet  about  it." 

Will  the  honest  reader  of  history  reject  such 
testimony  as  worthless,  and  mark  th  t  of  these 
modern  skeptics  valuable  ? 

Mrs.  Victor's  charges,  that  selfishness  and 
personal  aggrandizement  accounted  for  all  the 
sacrifices  made  by  Whitman,  are  preposterous  in 
the  light  of  testimony,  and  made  utterly  unten- 
able by  the  environments  of  the  Missionary. 
There  was  no  time  in  all  the  years  that  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Whitman  lived  in  Oregon,  that  they  could 
not  have  packed  all  their  worldly  goods  upon  the 
backs  of  two  mules.  The  American  Board  made 
no  bribe  of  money  to  the  men  and  women  they 
sent  out  to  Oregon  and  elsewhere.  If  the  great 
farm  he  opened  at  Waiilatpui,  and  the  buildings 


HOW  MARCUS   Wi.ITMAN  SAVED  OREGOM. 


"09 


he  erected  by  his  patient  toil,  had  grown  to  be 
worth  a  million,  it  would  not  have  added  a 
single  dollar  to  Whitman's  wealth.  Even  the 
physician's  fees  given  him  by  grateful  sufferers, 
under  the  rules  of  the  Board,  were  reported 
and  counted  as  a  part  of  his  meagre  salary. 

The  idea  that  a  man  should  leave  wife  and 
home,  and  endure  the  perils  of  a  mid-winter 
journey  to  the  States,  to  persuade  Congress  "  To 
buy  sheep  "  and  "  make  his  Mission  a  stopping 
place,"  or  the  American  Board  to  allow  him  to 
work  sixteen  hours  a  day  for  the  Cayuse 
Indians,  is  a  heavy  task  on  credulity,  and  is  so 
far-fetched  as  to  make  Whitman's  maligners  only 
ridi(ulous. 

But  it  is  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft,  the  author  of 
the  thirty-eight  volume  History  of  the  Pacific 
States,  who  is  the  offender-in-chief.  As  a 
collector  and  historian,  Bancroft  necessarily  re- 
quired many  co-workers.  It  was  in  his  failure  to 
get  them  into  harmony  and  tell  the  straight  con- 
nected truth,  in  which  he  made  his  stupendous 
blunders.  Chapter  is  arrayed  against  chapter, 
and  volume  against  volume.  One  tells  history, 
and  another  denies  it.  In  Volume  I,  page  379, 
he  refers  to  the  incident,  already  fully  recited  in 
another  chapter,  of  the  visit  of  the  Flathead 
Indians  to  St.  Louis,  and  does  not  once  doubt  its 
historic  accuracy  ;  but  in  Volume  XXIII,  another 
of  his  literary  army  works  up  the  same  historic 
incident,  and  says  ;  i 


i  :i    ; 


i|! 


210 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


I  :l  1 


'ii 


Ril 


VI 
HI 


"The  Presbyterians  were  never  very  expert 
in  improvising  Providences.  Therefore  when 
Gray,  the  great  Untruthful,  an  whilom  Chris- 
tian Mission  builder,  undertakes  to  appropriate 
to  the  Unseen  Powers  of  his  sect  the  sending  of 
four  native  delegates  to  St.  Louis  in  1832, 
begging  saviors  for  transmountain  castaways,  it 
is  as  most  of  Gray's  affairs  are,  a  failure.  The 
Catholics  manage  such  things  better." 

On  page  584,  Volume  I,  "Chronicles  of  the 
Builders,"  Mr.  Bancroft  says:  "The  Missionaries 
and  Pioneers  of  Oregon  did  much  to  assure  the 
country  to  the  United  States.  Had  there  been 
no  movement  of  the  kind,  England  would  have 
extended  her  claim  ever  the  whole  territory, 
with  a  fair  prospect  of  making  it  her  own." 

In  another  place  says  Mr.  Bancroft,  "The 
Missionary,  Dr.  Whitman,  was  no  ordinary  man. 
I  do  not  know  which  to  admire  most  in  him,  his 
coolness  or  his  corrage.  His  fierves  were  of 
steel,  his  patience  was  excelled  only  by  his  fear- 
lessness. In  the  mighty  calm  of  his  nature  he 
was  a  Caesar  for  Christ." 

In  the  same  volume,  another  of  his  literary 
co-workers  proceeds  to  glorify  John  Jacob  Astor, 
and  to  give  him  all  the  hciors  for  saving  Ore- 
gon to  the  Union.     Mr.  Bancroft  says: 

"The  American  flag  was  raised  none  too  soon 
at  Fort  Astoria,  to  secure  the  great  Oregon 
Country  to  the  United  States,  for  already  the 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


211 


men  of  Montreal  were  hastening  thither  to  seize 
the  prize;  but  they  were  too  late.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  had  not  Mr.  Astor  moved  in  this  matter 
as  he  did,  had  his  plans  been  frustrated  or  his 
purposes  delayed,  the  Northern  boundary  of  the 
United  States  might  today  be  the  42d  parallel 
of  latitude.  Thus  we  see  the  momentous  sig- 
nificance of  the  movement." 

The  author  proceeds  to  picture  Astor  and 
make  him  the  hero  in  saving  Oregon.  In 
another  chapter  we  have  given  the  full  force  and 
effect  of  Mr.  Astor's  settlement  at  Astoria.  A 
careful  reading  will  only  show  the  exaggerated 
importance  of  the  act,  when  compared  with 
other  acts  which  the  historian  only  passes  with  a 
sneer  or  in  silence.  John  Jacob  Astor  was  in 
Oregon  to  make  money  and  for  no  other  pur- 
pose. 

In  Volume  I,  Page  579,  "  Chronicle  of  the 
Builders,"  Mr.  Bancroft  allows  Mrs.  Victor,  his 
authority,  to  dip  her  pen  deep  in  slander.  He 
refers  to  both  the  Methodist  Missions  on  the 
Willamette,  and  the  Congregational  and  Pres- 
byterian Missions  of  the  Walla  Walla,  and 
writes: 

"  But  missionary  work  did  not  pay,  however, 
either  with  the  white  men  or  the  red,  where- 
upon the  apostles  of  this  region  began  to  attend 
more  to  their  own  affairs  than  to  the  saving  of 
savage  souls.    They  broke  up  their  establish- 


ivi 


!«■' 


212 


HOW   MAPC'S    WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


ments  in  1844,  ana  thenceforth  became  a  political 
clique,  whose  chief  aim  was  to  acquire  other 
men's  property." 

Please  note  the  charges.  Here  are  Christian 
men  and  women  who  have  for  years  deprived 
themselves  of  all  the  benefits  of  civilization,  and 
endured  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  frontier 
life,  professedly  that  they  might  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  savage  people,  but  says  Mr.  Bancroft: 

"Missionary  work  did  not  pay."  In  the  sense 
of  money  making,  when  did  Missionary  work 
ever  piy?  This  history  of  the  Pacific  States  is 
a  history  for  the  generations  to  come.  It  is  to  go 
into  Christian  homes  and  upon  the  shelves  of 
Christian  libraries.  If  it  is  true,  Christianity 
stands  disgraced  and  Christian  Missionaries 
stand  dishonored.  ' 

Mr.  Bancroft  says:  "They  broke  up  their  es- 
tablishments in  1844  and  became  a  political 
clique,  whose  chief  aim  was  to  acquire  other 
men's  property."  As  usual,  another  one  of  the 
historian's  valuable  aids  comes  upon  the  stage  in 
the  succeeding  volume,  and  gives  a  horrifying 
account  of  "The  great  massacre  at  Dr.  Whit- 
man's Mission,  on  Nov.  29th,  1847."  He  tells  us 
"There  were  at  the  time  seventy  souls  at  the 
Mission  "  and  "  Fourteen  persons  were  killed  and 
forty-seven  taken  captives."  Does  this  prove 
the  historian's  truthfulness  who  had  before  told 
his  readers  that  "They  broke  up  their  establish- 


::M   !l!l  ; 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON 


213 


ments  in  1844  and  thencefortn  became  a  political 
clique,  whose  £,ini  was  to  acquire  other  men's 
property?"  There  is  no  possible  excuse  for  the 
historian  to  allow  his  aids  to  lead  him  into  such 
blunders  as  we  have  pointed  out. 

The  real  facts  were  in  reach.  Heie  were  men 
and  women  educated,  cultivated,  exiles  from 
home,  engaged  in  the  great  work  of  civilizing 
and  Christianizing  savages,  and  without  a  fact 
to  sustain  the  charge,  it  is  openly  asserted  that 
they  gave  up  their  work  and  entered  upon  the 
race  for  political  power  and  for  wealth.  Instead 
of  the  Missions  of  the  American  Board  being 
"closed  in  1844,"  they  were  at  no  time  in  a  more 
prosperous  condition;  as  the  record  of  Dr.  Eells, 
Dr.  Spalding  and  Dr.  Whitman  all  show. 

There  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  that  Dr. 
Whitman  ever  took  any  part  in  any  political 
movement  in  Oregon;  save  and  except  as  his 
great  effort  to  bring  in  settlers  to  secure  the 
country  to  the  United  States  may  be  called  polit- 
ical. As  soon  as  he  could  leave  the  emigrants, 
he  hurried  home  to  his  Mission,  and  at  once  took 
up  his  heavy  work  which  he  had  laid  aside  eleven 
months  before.  He  went  on  building  and  plant- 
ing, and  sowing  and  teaching;  the  busiest  of  busy 
men  up  to  the  very  date  of  the  massacre.  In  his 
young  manhood  he  sacrificed  ease  in  a  civilized 
home,  and  he  and  his  equally  noble  wife,  dedica- 
ted themselves  and  their  lives  to  the  Missionary 


:l 


: .  •-  a 


.'  i. 


II 


pi 


n 


I  !i 


!i 

i 


214 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


I     1 1 


service.  At  all  times  they  were  the  same  patient, 
quiet,  uncomplaining  toilers. 

Why  should  the  great  historian  of  the  Pacific 
States  stand  above  their  martyr  graves  and 
attempt  to  discredit  their  lives,  and  dishonor 
their  memories?  Dr.  Whitman  exhibited  as 
much  patriotism,  and  performed  as  grand  an  act 
of  heroism  as  any  man  of  this  century,  and  yet, 
Mr.  Bancroft  devotes  half  a  dozen  volumes  to 
"  The  Chronicle  of  the  Builders,"  in  which  he 
presents  handsome  photographs  and  clear,  well- 
written  sketches  of  hundreds  of  men,  but  they 
are  mainly  millionaires  and  politicians.  The 
historian  seems  to  have  had  no  room  for  a  Mis- 
sionary or  a  poor  Doctor.  They  were  only  pre- 
tending "  to  save  savage  souls."  And  that  "did 
not  pay,"  and  "they  broke  up  their  settlements 
in  1844  and  thenceforth  became  a  political  clique" 
whose  "chief  aim  was  to  acquire  other  men's 
property." 

It  is  a  slander  of  the  basest  class,  not  backed 

up  by  a  single  credible  fact,  wholly  dishonorable 

to  the  author  and  discredits  his  entire  history. 

An  old  poet  says: 

"  And  ever  the  right  comes  uppermost, 
And  ever  is  justice  done! " 

The  Christian  and  patiotic  people  who  be- 
lieve in  honest  dealing,  will,  in  the  years  to  come, 
compel  all  such  histories  to  be  re-written  and 
their  malice  expunged,  or  they  will  cease  to  find 
an  honored  place  in  the  best  libraries. 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


215 


It  is  by  such  history  that  the  modern  public 
has  been  blinded,  and  the  real  heroes  relegated 
to  the  rear  to  make  room  for  favorites.  ,  But 
facts  are  stubborn  things,  "The  truth  is  mighty 
and  will  prevail."  The  great  public  is  honest 
and  loves  justice  and  honesty;  and  it  will  not 
permit  such  a  record  to  stand.  The  awakening 
has  already  begun.  The  time  is  coming  when 
the  martyred  heroes  in  their  unhonoved  graves 
at  Waiilatpui,  will  receive  the  reward  due  for 
their  patriotic  and  heroic  service. 

It  is  also  gratifying  to  be  able  to  observe  that 
this  malevolence  is  limited  to  narrow  bounds. 
It  has  originated  and  has  lived  only  in  the  fer- 
tile brains  of  two  or  three  boasters  of  historic 
knowledge,  who  have  made  up  in  noise  for  all 
lack  of  principle  and  justice.  They  seem  to  have 
desired  to  gain  notoriety  for  themselves  and  im- 
agined that  the  world  would  admire  their  cour- 
age. It  was  Mr.  Bancroft's  great  misfortune  that 
this  little  coterie  in  Oregon  were  entrusted  with 
the  task  of  writing  the  most  notable  history  of 
modern  times,  and  his  great  work  and  his  hon- 
ored name  will  have  to  bear  the  odium  of  it  until 
his  volumes  are  cnlled  in  and  the  grievous 
wrong  is  righted.  It  will  be  done.  Mr.  E.  C. 
Ross,  of  Prescott,  says  in  the  Oregonian  in  1884: 

"Time  will  vindicate  D'*.  Whitman,  and  when 
all  calumnies,  and  their  inventors,  shall  have 
been  forgotten,  his  name,  and  that  of  his  devoted, 


n 

:  i  I 


';i  i 


Iti'/i 


216 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


noble  wife,  will  stand  forth  in  history  as  martyrs 
to  the  cause  of  God  and  their  Country." 

Let  the  loyal,  patriotic    men  and  women  of 
America  resolve  that  the  time  to  do  this  is  now. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE   MASSACKF,    AT  WAIILATPUI. 


In  all  the  years  since  the  terrible  tragedy  at 
Waiilatpui,  historians  have  been  seeking  to  find 
the  cause  of  that  great  crime. 

Some  have  traced  it  to  religious  jeaiOusies, 
but  have,  in  a  great  measure;,  failed  to  back  such 
charges  with  substantial  facts.  It  seems  rather 
to  have  been  a  combination  of  causes  working 
together  for  a  common  purpose. 

For  nearly  half  a  century,  as  we  have  seen 
in  the  history  of  Oregon,  the  Indians  and  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  had  been  working  har- 
moniously together.  It  was  a  case  in  which 
civilization  had  accommodated  itself  to  the  de- 
sires of  savage  life.  The  Company  plainly 
showed  the  Indians  that  they  did  not  wish  their 
lands,  or  to  deprive  them  of  their  homes.  It 
only  wanted  their  labor,  and  in  return  it  would 
pay  the  Indians  in  many  luxuries  and  comforts. 
The  Indians  were  averse  to  manual  labor,  and 

2J7 


i'i 


i 


218 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


the  great  Company  had  not  seen  fit  to  encour- 
age it.  They  did  not  desire  to  see  them  plant 
or  sow,  raise  cattle,  or  build  houses  for  them- 
selves and  their  families.  That  would  directly 
interfere  with  their  work  as  fur  gatherers,  and 
break  in  upon  the  source  of  wealth  to  the  Com- 
pany. To  keep  them  at  the  steel  trap,  and  in 
the  chase,  was  the  aim  of  the  Hudson  Bay  pol- 
icy, and  such  was  congenial  to  the  Indian,  and 
just  what  he  desired. 

The  Jesuit  Priests  who  were  attached  to  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  seconded  the  interest  of 
the  Company  and  attempted  to  teach  religion  to 
the  Indian  and  still  leave  him  a  savage.  Upon 
the  commg  of  the  Protestant  Missionaries,  the 
Indians  welcomed  \  lem  and  expressed  great  de- 
light at  the  prospect  of  being  taught.  They 
gave  their  choice  locations  to  the  Missions,  and 
most  solemn  promise  to  co-operate  in  the  work. 
But  neither  they  nor  their  fathers  had  used  the 
hoe  or  the  plow,  or  built  permanent  houses  in 
which  to  live.  They  were  by  nature  opposed  to 
manual  labor.  Squaws  were  made  to  do  all  the 
work,  while  Indian  men  hunted  and  did  the 
fighting.  The  Missionaries  could  see  but  little 
hope  of  Christianizing,  unless  they  could  in- 
duce them  to  adopt  civilized  customs. 

It  was  right  there  that  the  breach  between 
the  Indians  and  the  Missionaries  began  to 
widen.     They  were  willing  to  accept  a  religion 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  ORKOON. 


2iy 


which  did  not  interfere  with  savage  customs, 
which  had  become  a  part  of  their  lives.  It  was 
the  custom  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  by 
giving  modest  bribes,  to  win  over  any  unruly 
chief.  It  was  the  best  way  to  hold  power;  but 
the  Missionaries  held  the  tribes  which  they 
served  up  to  a  higher  standard  of  morals. 

The  Cayuse  Indians  made  a  foray  upon  a 
weaker  tribe,  and  levied  on  their  stock  in  pay- 
ment for  some  imaginary  debt.  Dr.  Whitman 
gave  the  Chiefs  a  reprimand,  and  called  it  thiev- 
ing, and  demanded  that  they  send  back  every- 
thing they  had  taken.  The  Indians  grew  very 
angry  in  being  thus  reminded  of  their  sins. 

We  mention  these  little  incidents  as  illustra- 
tions of  the  strained  conditions  which  speedily 
made  their  appearance  in  the  government  of  the 
Indians,  and  made  it  easy  work  for  the  mischief 
makers  and  criminals,  later  on.  It  was  the 
boast  of  English  authors  that  "  The  English 
people  got  along  with  Indians  much  better 
than  Americans."  This  seems  to  be  true,  and  it 
comes  from  the  fact  that  they  did  not  antagonize 
savage  customs.  As  long  as  their  savage  subjects 
filled  the  treasury  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Ccropany, 
they  cared  little  for  aught  else.  As  a  matter  of 
policy  and  self  defense,  they  treated  them  hon- 
estly and  fairly  in  all  business  transi. -tions. 
They  were  in  full  sympathy  with  the  Indians  in 
their  demand  to  keep  out  white  immigration,  and 


f^ 


220 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


::!iii,:.,.:!il 


I    ;ii;';  ■ 


ki  ii-  iii : 


>!■    'W 


keep  the  entire  land  for  fur-bearing  animals  and 
savage  life. 

Dr.  Whitman's  famous  ride  to  the  States  in  the 
Winter  of  1842-43,  and  his  piloting  the  large  immi- 
gration of  American  settlers  in  1843,  n^ade  him  a 
marked  man,  both  with  the  Indians  and  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company.  When  the  Treaty  was 
signed  in  1846,  and  England  lost  Oregon,  Whit-, 
man  was  doubtles^  from  that  hour  a  doomed 
man.  Both  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  and  the 
Indians  well  knew  who  was  responsible. 

First,  "The  great  white  haired  Chief,"  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  was  sacrificed  because  he  was  a 
friend  of  Whitman  and  the  Missionaries.  There 
was  no  other  reason.  If  Dr.  McLoughlin  could 
have  been  induced  to  treat  the  Protestant  Mis- 
sionaries as  he  treated  the  American  fur  traders, 
his  English  Company  would  have  been  delighted 
to  have  retained  him  as  Chief  Factor  for  life. 
But  with  them  it  was  a  crime  to  show  kindness 
to  a  Protestant  Missionary,  and  thus  foster 
American  interests.  If  McLoughlin  had  not 
resigned  and  got  out  of  the  way,  he  would 
doubtless  have  lost  his  life  by  the  hands  of  an 
assassin. 

The  Treaty  was  signed  and  proclaimed 
August  6th,  1846,  and  the  massacre  did  not  occur 
until  the  29th  of  November,  1847.  In  those 
days  the  news  moved  slowly  and  the  results,  and 
the  knowledge  that  England  and   the   Hudson 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


221 


Bay  Company  had  lost  all,  did  not  reach  the 
outposts  along  the  Columbia  until  late  in  the 
Spring  of  1847.  If  the  English  and  Hudson 
Bay  Company  had  nothing  to  do  in  fanning  the 
flame  of  Indian  anger,  it  was  because  they  had 
changed  and  reformed  their  methods.  How 
much  or  how  little  they  worked  through  the 
cunning  and  duplicity  of  Jesuit  Priests  has  never 
been  demonstrated.  After  the  Revolutionary 
Wa/,  England  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  incite 
the  Indians  upon  our  Northern  frontier  to 
make  savage  assaults.  Her  humane  Statesmen 
denounced  her  work  as  uncivilized  and  unchristian. 

General  Washington,  in  a  published  letter  to 
John  Jay,  in  1 794,  said :  "  There  does  not  remain 
a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  any  well-informed  per- 
son in  this  country,  not  shut  against  conviction, 
that  all  the  difficulties  we  encounter  with  the 
Indians,  their  hostilities,  the  murders  of  helpless 
women  and  children  along  our  frontiers,  result 
from  the  conduct  of  the  agents  of  Great  Britain 
in  this  country." 

At  no  time  then  had  the  English  as  much 
reason  for  anger  at  American  success  and  pros- 
perity as  in  the  case  of  Oregon,  where  a  great 
organization,  which  has  been  for  well-nigh  half  a 
century  in  supreme  control,  was  now  compelled 
to  move  on.  To  have  shown  no  resentment 
would  have  been  unlike  the  representatives  of 
England  in  the  days  of  Washington. 


rl  1 


y 


I 


I 


222 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Undoubtedly  the  sickness  of  the  Indians,  that 
year,  and  the  charge  that  the  Americans  had 
introduced  the  disease  to  kill  the  Indians  off 
and  get  their  land,  was  a  powerful  agent  in 
winning  over  to  the  murderers  many  who  were 
still  friendly  to  the  Missionaries.  The  Indians 
had  fallen  from  their  high  mark  of  honesty  of 
which  Mrs.  Whitman  in  her  diary,  years  before, 
boasted,  and  had  invaded  the  melon  patch  and 
stolen  melons,  so  that  the  Indians  who  ate  them 
were  temporarily  made  sick.  With  their 
superstitious  ideas  they  called  it  "conjuring  the 
melon,"  and  the  incident  was  used  effectually  to 
excite  hostilities. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  white  men  directly 
instigated  the  massacre  or  took  a  part  in  its 
horrors.  While  there  is  evidence  of  a  bitter 
animosity  existing  among  the  Jesuit  Priests 
toward  the  Protestant  Missionaries,  and  their 
defense  of  the  open  charges  made  against  them 
is  lame;  yet  the  historical  facts  are  not  sufficient 
to  lay  the  blame  upon  them. 

Nor  is  it  necessary  to  hold  the  leading  offi- 
cials of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  responsible 
for  the  crime  as  co-conspirators.  There  are 
always  hangers  on  and  irresponsible  parties  who 
stand  ready  to  do  the  villian's  work. 

The   leader  of  the   massacre    was 
breed,  Joe  Lewis,  whose  greatest  accomplishment 
was  lying.     He  seems  to  have  brought  the  con- 


the  hall 


IJ:  ill^ 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


223 


ho 


spiracy  up  to  the  killing  point  by  his  falsehoods. 
He  was  a  half  Canadian  and  came  to  Oregon 
in  company  with  a  band  of  priests  and  strangely 
enough,  dropped  down  upon  Dr.  Whitman  and 
by  him  was  clothed  and  fed  for  many  months. 
The  Doctor  soon  learned  his  real  character  and 
how  he  was  trying  to  breed  distrust  among  the 
Indians.  Dr.  Whitman  got  him  the  position  of 
teamster  in  a  wagon  train  for  the  Willamette, 
and  expressed  a  hope  that  he  was  clear  of  him. 
But  Joe  deserted  his  post  and  returned  to  Waii- 
latpui,  and  as  events  showed,  was  guided  by  some 
unseen  power  in  the  carrying  cut  of  the  plans 
of  the  murderers. 

To  believe  that  he  conceived  it,  or  that  the 
incentives  to  the  execution  of  the  diabolism 
rested  alone  with  the  Indians,  is  to  lax  even  the 
credulous.  They  were  simply  the  direct  agents, 
and  were,  doubtless,  as  has  been  said,  wrought 
up  to  the  crime  through  superstitions  in  regard 
to  Dr.  Whitman's  responsibility  for  the  prevail- 
ing sickness,  which  had  caused  many  deaths 
among  the  Indians.  For  all  the  years  to  come, 
the  readers  of  history  will  v/eigh  the  facts  for 
themselves,  and  continue  to  place  the  responsi- 
bility upon  this  and  that  cause  ;  but,  for  a  safe 
standing  point,  will  always  have  to  drop  back 
upon  the  fact  that  it  was  the  "  irrepressible  con- 
flict" between  civilization  and  savagery,  between 
Christianity    and    heathenism,    backed    up    by 


224 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


rSi 


mk: 


national  antagonisms,  which  had  many  times 
before  engendered  bad  spirit. 

It  has  been  the  history  of  the  first  settlement 
of  every  State  of  the  Union,  more  or  less,  from 
the  landing  upon  Plymouth  Rock  up  to  the 
tragedy  at  Waiilatpui.  Only  it  seems  in  the  case 
of  the  massacre  at  the  Whitman  Mission,  to  be 
more  cold-blooded  and  atrocious,  in  the  fact, 
that  those  killed  had  spent  the  best  years  of 
their  lives  in  the  service  of  the  murderers. 

Those  who  had  received  the  largest  favors 
and  the  most  kindness  from  the  Doctor  and  his 
good  wife,  were  active  leaders  in  the  great  crime. 
The  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding,  in  a  letter  to  the 
parents  of  Mrs.  Whitman,  dated  April  6,  184S, 
gives  a  clear,  concise  account  of  the  great 
tragedy. 

He  says  :  "  They  were  inhumanly  butchered 
by  their  own,  up  to  the  last  moment,  beloved 
Indians,  for  whom  their  warm  Christian  hearts 
had  prayed  for  eleven  years,  and  their  unwearied 
hands  had  administered  to  their  every  want  in 
sickness  and  distress,  and  had  bestowed  unnum- 
bered blessings  ;  who  claimed  to  be,  and  were 
considered,  in  a  high  state  of  civilization  and 
Christianity.  Some  of  them  were  members  of 
our  Church  ;  others,  candidates  for  admission  ; 
some  of  them  adherents  of  the  Catholic  Church; 
all  praying  Indians. 

They  were;,  doubtless,  urged  on  to  the  dread- 


ts 


of 


:h; 


tu 


en 
O 

in 


■M 


'*;*'  t 


.! 


■    M 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


225 


ful  deed  by  foreign  influences,  which  we  have 
felt  coming  in  upon  us  like  a  devastating  flood 
for  the  last  three  or  four  years  ;  and  we  have 
begged  the  authors,  with  tears  in  our  eyes,  to 
desist,  not  so  much  on  account  of  our  own  lives 
and  property,  but  for  the  sake  of  those  coming, 
and  the  safety  of  those  already  in  the  country. 
But  the  authors  thought  none  would  be  injured 
but  the  hated  Missionaries — the  devoted  heretics; 
and  the  work  of  Hell  was  urged  on,  and  has 
ended,  not  only  in  the  death  of  three  Mission- 
aries, the  ruin  of  our  Mission,  but  in  a  bloody  war 
with  the  settlements,  which  may  end  in  the  mas- 
sacre of  every  adult." 

"The  massacre  took  place  on  the  fatal  29th  of 
November  last,  commencing  at  half-past  one. 
Fourteen  persons  were  murdered  first  and  last  ; 
nine  the  first  day.  Five  men  escaped  from  the 
Station,  three  in  a  most  wonderful  manner,  one 
of  whom  was  the  trembling  writer,  with  whom,  I 
know,  you  will  unite  in  praising  God  for  deliver- 
•ng  even  one." 

"  The  names  an«  I  places  of  the  slain  are  as  fol- 
lows :  The  two  precious  names  already  given  — 
my  hand  refuses  to  write  them  again ;  Mr.  Rogers, 
young  man,  teacher  of  our  Mission  school  in 
the  winter  of  '46,  who  since  then  has  been  aid- 
ing us  in  our  Mission  work,  and  studying  for  the 
ministry,  with  a  viev;  to  be  ordained  and  join  our 
Mission  ;  John  and  Francis  Sager,  the  two  eldest 

15 


1 


226 


HOW  MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


of  the  orphan  family,  ages  17  and  15  ;  Mr.  Kim- 
ball, of  Laporte,  Indiana,  killed  the  second  day, 
left  a  widow  and  five  children  ;  Mr.  Saunders,  of 
Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  left  a  widow  and  five  children ; 
Mr.  Hall,  of  Missouri,  escaped  to  Fort  Walla 
Walla,  was  refused  protection,  put  over  the 
Columbia  River,  killed  by  the  Walla  Wallas,  left 
a  widow  and  five  children  ;  Mr.  Marsh,  of  Mis- 
souri, left  a  son  grown  and  young  daughter  ;  Mr. 
Hoffman,  of  Elmira,  New  York;  Mr.  Gillan,  of 
Oskaloosa,  Iowa  ;  Mr.  Sails,  of  the  latter  place ; 
Mr.  Bewley,  of  Missouri.  The  two  last,  were 
dragged  from  sick  beds,  eight  days  after  the  first 
massacre,  and  butchered  ;  Mr.  Young,  killed  the 
second  day.  The  last  five  were  unmarried  men." 
"Forty  women  and  children  fell  captives  into 
the  hands  of  the  murderers,  among  them  my  own 
beloved  daughter,  Eliza,  ten  years  old.  Three 
of  the  captive  children  soon  died,  left  without 
parental  care,  two  of  them  your  dear  Narcissa's 
adopted  children.  The  young  women  were 
dragged  from  the  house  by  night,  and  beastly 
treated.  Three  of  them  were  forced  to  become 
wives  of  the  murderers  of  their  parents,  who  often 
boasted  of  the  deed,  to  taunt  their  victims." 
Continuing  the  narrative  Mr.  Spalding  says: 
"  Monday  morning  the  Doctor  assisted  in  bury- 
ing an  Indian;  returned  to  the  house  and  was 
reading  ;  several  Indians,  as  usual,  were  in  the 
house;  one  sat  down  by  him  to  attract  his  atten- 


M 


ras 
Ithe 
ten- 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


227 


tion  by  asking  for  medicine;  another  came  be- 
hind him  with  tomahawk  concealed  under  his 
blanket  and  with  two  blows  in  the  back  of  the 
head,  brought  him  to  the  floor  senseless,  prob- 
ably, but  not  lifeless;  soon  after  Telaukaikt,  a 
candidate  for  admission  in  our  Church,  and  who 
was  receiving  unnumbered  favors  every  day  from 
Brother  and  Sister  Whi'  lan,  came  in  and  took 
particular  pains  to  cut  and  beat  his  face  and  cut 
his  throat;  but  he  still  lingered  till  near  night." 

"As  soon  as  the  firing  commenced  at  the 
different  places,  Mrs.  Hayes  ran  in  and  assisted 
Sister  Whitman  in  taking  the  Doctor  from  the 
kitchen  to  the  sitting-room  and  placed  him  upon, 
the  settee.  This  was  before  his  face  was  cut. 
His  dear  wife  bent  over  him  and  mingled  her 
flowing  tears  with  his  precious  blood.  It  was  all 
she  could  do.  They  were  her  last  tears.  To 
whatever  she  said,  he  would  reply  *no'  in  a  whis- 
per, probably  not  sensible." 

"John  Sager,  who  was  sitting  by  the  Doctor 
when  he  received  the  first  blow,  drew  his  pistol,  but 
his  arm  was  seized,  the  room  filling  with  Indians, 
and  his  head  was  cut  to  pieces.  He  lingered  till 
near  night.  Mr.  Rogers,  attacked  at  the  water, 
escaped  with  a  broken  arm  and  wound  in  the 
head,  and  rushing  into  the  house,  shut  the  door. 
The  Indians  seemed  to  have  left  the  house  now 
to  assist  in  murdering  others.  Mr.  Kimball,  with 
a  broken  arm,  rushed  in;  both  secreted  them- 
selves upstairs." 


'•  i 

''  '.I 

i  i:i 

■  ■! 


■^'i 


iti ' 

i 


228 


HOW    MARCUS' WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


"Sister  Whitman  in  anguish,  now  bending 
over  her  dying  husband  and  now  over  the  sick; 
now  comforting  the  flying,  screaming  children, 
was  passing  by  the  window,  when  she  received 
the  first  shot  in  her  right  breast,  and  fell  to  the 
floor.  She  immediately  arose  and  kneeled  by 
the  settee  on  which  lay  her  bleeding  husband, 
and  in  humble  prayer  commended  her  soul  to 
God,  and  prayed  for  her  dear  children  who  were 
about  to  be  made  a  second  time  orphans  and  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  her  direct  murderers.  I 
am  certain  she  prayed  for  her  murderers,  too. 
She  now  went  into  the  chamber  witff  Mrs.  Hayes, 
Miss  Bewley,  Catharine,  and  the  sick  children. 
They  remained  till  near  night." 

"In  the  meantime  the  doors  and  windows 
were  broken  in  and  the  Indians  entered  and 
commenced  plundering,  but  they  feared  to  go 
into  the  chamber.  They  called  for  Sister  Whit- 
man and  Brother  Rogers  to  come  down  and 
promised  they  should  not  be  hurt.  This  prom- 
ise was  often  repeated,  and  they  came  down. 
Mrs.  Whitman  faint  with  the  loss  of  blood,  was 
carried  on  a  settee  to  the  door  by  Brother  Rog- 
ers and  Miss  Bewley." 

"  Every  corner  of  the  room  was  crowded  with 
Indians  having  their  guns  ready  to  fire.  The 
children  had  been  brought  down  and  huddled 
together  to  be  shot.  Eliza  was  one.  Here  they 
had  stood  for  a  long  time  surrounded  by. guns 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN    HAVKD   OKEGON. 


229 


pointed  at  their  breasts.  She  often  heard  the 
cry  "Shall  we  shoot?"  and  her  blood  became 
cold,  she  says,  and  she  fell  upon  the  floor.  But 
now  the  order  was  j^iven,  "Do  not  shoot  the 
children,"  as  the  settee;  passed  by  the  children, 
over  the  bleedinjj^,  dyin^  body  of  John." 

"Fatal  moment!  The  settee  advanced  about 
its  length  from  the  door,  when  the  guns  were 
discharged  from  without  and  within,  the  powder 
actually  burning  the  faces  of  the  children. 
Brother  Rogers  raised  his  hand  and  cried,  "  My 
God,"  and  fell  upon  his  face,  pierced  with  many 
balls.  But  he  fell  not  aK)ne.  An  equal  number 
of  the  deadly  weapons  were  leveled  at  the  settee 
and  the  discharge  had  been  deadly.  She 
groaned,  and  lingered  for  .some  time  in  great 
agony." 

"Two  of  the  humane  Indians  threw  their 
blankets  over  the  little  children  huddled  to- 
gether in  the  corner  of  the  room,  and  shut  out 
the  sight  as  they  beat  their  dying  victims  with 
whips,  and  cut  their  face:;  with  knives.  It  was 
Joe  Lewis,  the  Canadian  half-breed,  that  first 
shot  Mrs.  Whitman,  but  it  was  Tamtsaky  who 
took  her  scalp  as  a  trophy." 

An  old  Oregon  friend  of  the  author,  Samuel 
Campbell,  now  living  in  Moscow,  Idaho,  spent 
the  winter  of  '46  and  '47  at  the  Whitman  Mis- 
sion, and  never  wearied  in  telling  of  the  grandly 
Christian  character  of    Mrs.  Whitman,  of   her 


is' 

I' 


ily. 


II 


i 


280 


HOW   MAKCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


kindness  and  h,er  patience  to  all,  whites  and 
Indians  alike.  Every  eveninjjf  she  delighted  all 
with  her  singing.  Her  voice,  after  all  her  hard 
life,  had  lost  none  of  its  sweetness,  nor  had  her 
environments  in  any  sense  soured  her  toward 
any  of  the  little  pleasantries  of  every  day  life. 

Says  Mr.  Campbell,  "You  can  imagine  niy 
horror  in  1849,  when  at  Grand  Rondc,  old  Tamt- 
saky  acknowledged  to  me  that  he  scalped  Mrs. 
Whitman  and  told  of  her  long,  beautiful,  silky 
hair,"  Soon  after  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, by  order  of  General  Lane,  sent  officers  tc 
arrest  the  murderers.  Old  Tamtsaky  was  killed 
at  the  time  of  the  arrest  and  escaped  the  hang- 
man's rope,  which  was  given  to  five  of  the  leaders, 
after  trial  in  Oregon  City,  May,  1850.  The  names 
of  the  murderers  hanged  were  Tilwkait,  Taha- 
mas,  Quiahmarsuin,  Klvakamus  and  Siahsalucus. 

The  Rev.  Gushing  Eejls  says,  "  The  day  before 
the  massacre,  Istikus,  a  firm  friend  of  Dr.  Whit- 
man, told  him  of  the  threats  against  his  life,  and 
advised  him  to  'go  away  u::'il  my  people  have 
better  hearts.'  He  reached  home  from  the 
lodge  of  Istikus  late  in  the  night,  but  visited  his 
sick  before  retiring.  Then  he  told  Mrs.  Whitman 
the  words  of  Istikus.  Knowing  how  true  a 
friend  Istikus  was,  and  his  great  courage,  the 
situation  became  more  perilous  in  the  estimation 
of  both,  than  ever  before.  Mrs.  Whitman  was  so 
affected  by  it  that  she  remained  in  her  room,  and 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   ORKflON. 


2rtl 


one  of  the  children,  who  took  her  breakfast  up 
to  her  room,  found  her  weeping.  The  Doctor 
went  about  his  work  as  usual,  but  told  some  of 
his  associates  that  if  it  were  possible  to  do  so,  he 
would  remove  all  the  family  to  a  place  of  safety. 
It  is  the  first  time  he  ever  seems  to  have  betMi 
alarmed,  or  thought  it  possible  that  his  Indians 
would  attempt  such  a  crime." 

Rev.  Mr.  Eells  gives  a  detailed  accoi'nt  of  the 
massacre  and  its  horrors,  but  in  this  connection 
we  only  desire  to  give  the  reader  a  clear  view 
without  dwelling  upon  its  atrocities.  "The  toma- 
hawk with  which  Dr.  Whitman  was  killed,  was 
presented  to  the  Cayuse  Indians  by  the  Black- 
feet  upon  some  great  occasion;  and  was  pre- 
served by  the  Cayuse  as  a  memorable  relic  long 
after  the  hanging  of  the  Chiefs.  In  the  Yakima 
War  it  passed  to  another  tribe,  and  the  Chief  who 
owned  it  was  killed;  an  Indian  agent,  Logan,  g'-" 
possession  of  it  and  presented  it  to  the  Sanitary 
Society  during  the  Civil  War.  A  subscription  of 
one  hundred  dollars  was  raised  and  it  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Legislature  of  Oregon,  and  is  pre- 
served among  the  archives  of  the  State." 

This  narrative  would  be  incomplete  without 
recording  the  prompt  action  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  officers  in  coming  to  the  relief  of  the 
captive  women  and  children.  As  soon  as  Chief 
Factor  Ogden  heard  of  it,  he  lost  no  time  in  re- 
pairing to   the    scene,    reaching    Walla    Walla 


Hi 


m .;: 


282 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


December  12th.  In  about  two  weeks  he  suc- 
ceeded in  ransoming  all  the  captives  for  blank- 
ets, shirts,  guns,  ammunition  and  tobacco,  and  at 
an  expense  of  $500.  No  other  man  in  the  Terri- 
tory, and  no  army  that  could  have  been  mustered, 
could  have  done  it. 

The  Americans  in  Oregon  promptly  mus- 
tered and  attacked  the  Indians,  who  retreated  to 
the  territory  of  a  different  tribe.  But  the  mur- 
derers and  leaders  among  the  Indians  were  not 
arrested  until  nearly  two  years  after  the  crime. 

While  some  have  charged  that  the  officials  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  could  have  averted 
the  massacre,  this  is  only  an  opinion.  Their  hu- 
mane and  prompt  act  in  releasing  the  captive 
women  and  children  from  worse  than  death,  was 
worthy  of  it,  and  has  received  the  strongest 
words  of  praise. 

Thus  was  ended  disastrously  the  work  of  the 
American  Board  which  had  given  such  large 
promise  for  eleven  years.  While  its  greatest 
achievement  was  not  in  saving  savage  souls,  but 
in  being  largely  instrumental  in  peacefully  sav- 
ing three  great  States  to  the  American  Union, 
yet  there  is  good  evidence,  years  after  the  mas- 
sacre, that  the  labors  of  the  Missionaries  had 
not  been  in  vain.  Afterthe  Treaty  of  1855,  seven 
years  after  the  massacre.  General  Joel  Palmer, 
who  was  one  of  the  Council,  says,  "  Forty-five 
Cayuse  and  one  thousand  Nez  Perces  have  kept 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


233 


Id 
m 
r, 


up  regular  family  and  public  worship,  singing 
from  the  Nez  Perces  Hymn  Book  and  reading 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  translated  into  Nez 
Perces,  the  work  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Spalding." 

Says  General  Barloe,  "  Many  of  them  showed 
surprising  evidences  of  piety,  especially  Tim- 
othy, who  was  their  regular  and  faithful  preacher 
during  all  these  years."  Among  the  Cayuse, 
old  Istikus,  as  long  as  he  lived,  rang  his  bell 
every  Sabbath  and  called  his  little  band  together 
for  v/orship." 

Twelve  years  after  leaving  his  Mission,  Rev. 
Mr.  Spalding  returned  to  his  people  and  found 
the  Tribe  had  kept  up  the  form  of  worship  all  the 
years  since.  Upon  opening  a  school,  it  was  at 
once  crowded  with  children,  and  even  old  men 
and  women,  with  failing  eyesight,  insisted  upon 
being  taught;  and  the  interest  did  not  Hag  until 
the  failing  health  of  Mr.  Spalding  forced  him  to 
give  up  his  work.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Eells'  experi- 
ence was  much  the  same;  all  going  to  prove  that 
the  early  work  of  the  American  Board  was  not 
fruitless  in  good,  and  emphasizing  the  fact  that 
good  words  and  work  are  never  wholly  lost,  and 
their  power  only  will  be  known  when  the  final 
summing  up  is  made. 

There  have  been  few  great  men  that  have 
not  felt  the  stings  of  criticism  and  misrepresen- 
tation, '^he  wholly  unselfish  life  of  Dr.  Marcus 
Whitman,  from  his  young  manhood  to  the  day 


s 


f  ■ 


I   I 


i 


234 


HOW  MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


of  his  death,  it  would  seem,  ought  to  have 
shielded  him  from  this  class,  but  it  did  not.  In 
justice  to  his  contemporaries,  however,  it  is  due 
to  say,  every  one  of  them,  of  all  Denominations 
except  one,  was  his  friend  and  defender. 

That  one  man  vas  a  French  Jesuit  Priest,  by 
the  name  of  J.  B.  A.  Brouillett.  He  was  Acting 
Bishop  among  the  Indians,  of  a  tribe  near  to  the 
Cayuse,  where  Dr.  Whitman  had  labored  for 
eleven  years,  and  where  he  pe»*ished  in  1847. 
After  the  massacre,  there  were  some  grave 
charges  made  against  Brouillett,  and  in  1853  he 
wrote  a  pamphlet,  entitled,  "Protestantism  in 
Oregon,"  in  which  he  made  a  vicious  attack  upon 
the  dead  Whitman,  and  the  living  Dr.  Spalding, 
and  the  other  Protestant  Missionaries  of  the  Am- 
erican Board. 

It  naturally  called  out  some  very  pointed  re- 
joinders, yet  attracted  but  little  attention  from 
the  Christian  world.  Patriotic  American  Catho- 
lics took  but  little  stock  m  the  clamor  of  the 
French  Priest,  and  the  matter  was  in  a  fair  way 
to  be  forgotten,  when  interest  was  suddenly  re- 
newed in  the  subject  by  the  appearance  of  an 
executive  document.  No.  ;^8,  35th  Congress,  ist 
Session,  signed  J.  Ross  Browne,  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs,  and  dated  at  San  Francisco,  De- 
cember 4,  1867,  which  contained  a  few  sentences 
from  J.  Ross  Browne  and  all  of  the  Brouillett 
pamphlet. 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


235 


n 

St 


les 
tt 


The  idea  of  getting  so  slanderous  a  paper 
published  as  an  ofificial  public  document  by  the 
United  States  Congress,  was  an  unheard-of  chal- 
lenge that  called  for  a  reply.  And  it  came 
promptly  and  pointedly.  From  all  parts  of  the 
Country,  Members  of  Congress  were  flooded  with 
letters  to  find  out  how  such  a  thing  could  be  ac- 
complished. None  of  them  seemed  able  to 
answer.  But  the  mischief  was  done  and  many 
of  them  expressed  a  willingness  to  help  undo  it. 

The  Old  School  and  New  School,  and  the 
United  Presbyterians  in  their  Presbyteries,  re- 
sented the  outrage,  both  in  the  Far  West  and  in 
the  East,  and  none  more  vigorously  than  did 
that  of  the  Illinois  Presbytery  at  the  meeting  in 
Chicago  in  187 1.  The  Methodists  and  Baptists 
and  Congregational  Conferences  in  Oregon  and 
Washington,  cordially  united  in  the  work,  and 
demanded  that  an  address,  defending  the  Mis- 
sionaries and  the  American  Board,  should  be 
printed  just  as  conspicuously  to  the  World  as 
had  been  the  falsehoods  of  Brouillett. 

The  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  at  Chi- 
cago, May  18,  1 87 1,  led  by  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Noble 
summed  up  the  case  under  seven  different  counts 
of  falsehoods,  and  demanded  that  Congress 
should,  in  simple  justice,  publish  them  in  vindica- 
tion of  the  Protestant  Church.  The. Oregon 
Presbytery  was  still  more  positive  and  aggressive 
and  made  their  specifications  under  twelve  heads. 


*  ■Si' 


m 


'If 


r,  '1  i 


I 


r-.  \ 


■IT 


ii 


"      3i 


■  Mill 


I-  H 


■;S    ;■ 


286 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


The  Congregationalists  and  the  Methodists  in 
Oregon  were  equally  pointed  and  positive.  It 
resulted  in  "A  .Committee  on  Protestantism  in 
Oregon^"  drawing  up  a  reply. 

In  this  they  say:  "The  object  of  Brouillett's 
pamphlet  appears  to  be  to  exculpate  the  real 
instigators  of  that  terrible  tragedy,  the  massa- 
cre at  Waiilatpui,  and  to  cast  the  blame  upon  the 
Protestant  Missionaries  who  were  the  victims." 
They  go  on  to  declare  that  the  paper  "  Is  full  of 
glaring  and  infamous  falsehoods,"  and  give  their 
reasons  concisely,  and  wholly  exhonorate  Dr. 
Whitman  from  all  blame. 

They  close  their  address  thus:  "With  these 
facts  before  us,  we  would  unite  with  all  lovers  of 
truch  and  justice,  in  earnestly  petitioning  Con- 
gress, as  far  as  possible,  to  rectify  the  evils 
which  have  resulted  from  the  publication,  as  a 
Congressional  Document,  of  the  slanders  of  J 
Ross  Browne,  and  thus  lift  the  cloud  of  darkness 
that  "  Hangs  over  the  memory  of  the  righteous 
dead  and  extend  equal  justice  to  those  who  sur- 
vive." The  Rev.  Dr.  Spalding  prepared  the 
matter  and  it  was  introduced  through  Secretary 
Columbus  Delano,  and  the  Indian  Agent,  N.  B. 
Meacham,  and  passed  Congress  as  "  Ex-Docu- 
ment No.  37  of  the  41st  Congress." 

Forty  thousand  copies  were  ordered  printed, 
the  same  as  of  Brouillett's  pamphlet.  It  is 
reported  that  less  than  fifty  copies  ever  reached 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


237 


the  public.  They  mysteriously  disappeared,  and 
no  one  ever  learned  and  made  public  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  done. 

But  the  incident  developed  the  fact,  that  the 
whole  patriotic  Christian  people  unitedly 
defended  Whitman  from  the  charges  made. 


II 


M 


!' 


CHAPTER  XIl. 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


DR.     MARCUS     WHITMAN     AND    DR.     JOHN 
MCLOUGHLIN. 


i        ' 


Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  was  a  direct  descendant 
of  John  Whitman  of  Weymouth,  who  came  from 
England  in  the  ship  "Confidence,"  December, 
1638.  Of  him  it  is  recorded  that  he  feared  God, 
hated  covetousness  and  did  good  continually  all 
the  days  of  a  long  life. 

Of  the  parents  of  Dr.  Whitman,  but  little  has 
been  written.  His  father,  Beza  Whitman,  was 
born  in  Bridgewater,  Connecticut,  May  13,  1775. 
In  March,  1797,  he  married  Alice  Green,  of 
Mumford,  Connecticut.  Two  years  later,  with 
all  of  their  worldly  goods  packed  in  an  ox-cart, 
they  moved  to  Rushville,  New  York.  Mrs. 
Whitman  making  a  iarge  part  of  the  tedious 
journey  on  foot,  carrying  her  one  year  old  babe 
in  her  arms. 

Settled  in  their  new  home,  with  Indians  for  near 
neighbors  and  wilderness  all  about  them,  they 

2a8 


Lrt, 
[rs. 

)US 

ibe 
ley 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


239 


began  the  struggle  for  life,  and  though  no  great 
success  rewarded  their  efforts,  it  is  known  that 
their  doors  always  swung  open  to  the  needy  and 
their  hands  ministered  to  the  sick. 

Mr.  Whitman  died  April  7,  18 10,  at  the  early 
age  of  35  years,  leaving  his  young  wife  to  rear 
their  family  of  four  sons  and  one  daughter. 
Mrs.  Whitman,  though  not  a  professing  Chris- 
tian, was  a  woman  of  much  energy  and  great 
endurance  which,  combined  with  strong  Chris- 
tian principle,  enabled  her  to  look  well  to  the 
ways  of  her  household.  She  lived  tc  see  every 
member  of  it  an  active  Christian.  She  .lied 
Sept.  6th,  1857.  agti  79,  and  was  buried  beside 
her  husband  n  jar  Rushville,  New  York. 

Dr.  Marcus  was  her  second  son,  and  inherited 
from  her  a  strong  frame  and  great  endurance. 
After  his  father's  death  he  was  sent  to  his  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Samuel  Whitman,  of  Plainfield, 
Massachusetts,  where  he  remained  ten  years  for 
training  and  education.  There  he  received  a 
liberal  training  in  the  best  schools  the  place 
afforded,  supplemented  by  a  thorough  course  in 
Latin,  and  more  advanced  studies  under  the 
minister  of  the  place. 

We  know  little  of  the  boyhood  spent  there, 
as  we  should  know  little  of  the  whole  life  of 
Whitman,  had  not  others  lived  to  tell  it,  for  he 
neither  told  or  wrote  of  it;  he  was  too  modest 
and  too  busy  for  that.     But  we  know  it  was  the 


rliii 


240 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OKEGON. 


usual  life  of  the  Yankee  boy,  to  bring  the  cows 
and  milk  them,  to  cut  the  wood,  and  later  to 
plow  and  sow  the  fields,  as  we  afterwards  find  he 
knew  how  to  do  all  these  things.  The  strong, 
sturdy  boy  of  ceaseless  activity  and  indomitable 
will  who  loved  hunting  and  exploring,  and  a 
touch  of  wild  life,  must  have  sometimes  given 
his  old  grandfather  a  trial  of  his  mettle,  but  on 
the  whole  no  doubt,  he  was  a  great  comfort  and 
help  to  his  declining  years. 

After  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  he 
returned  to  the  home  of  his  mother  in  Rushville. 
There  he  became  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  it  is 
said  was  very  desirous  of  studying  for  the  minis- 
try, but  by  a  long  illness,  and  the  persuasion  of 
friends,  was  turned  from  his  purpose  to  the 
study  of  medicine. 

He  took  a  three  years  course,  and  graduated 
at  Fairfield,  in  1824.  He  first  went  to  Canada, 
where  he  practiced  his  profession  for  four  years, 
then  came  back  to  his  home,  determined  again 
to  take  up  the  study  for  the  ministry,  but  was 
again  frustrated  in  his  design,  and  practiced  his 
profession  four  years  more  in  Wheeler,  N.  Y., 
where  he  was  a  member  and  an  elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  and  a  brother  also 
owned  a  saw-mill  near  there,  where  he  assisted 
in  his  spare  hours,  and  so  learned  another  trade 
that  was  most  useful  to  him  in  later  life.  In 
fact,  as  we  see  his  environments  in  his  Mission 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN        VED  OREGON. 


241 


he 
llso 
:ed 
ide 
In 
lion 


Station  in  Oregon,  these  nard  lessons  of  his 
earlier  years  seem  to  have  been,  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word,  educational. 

With  but  little  help,  he  openea  up  and  culti- 
vated a  great  farm,  and  built  a  grist-mill  and  a 
saw-mill,  and  when  his  grist-mill  was  burned, 
built  another,  and,  at  the  same  time,  attended  to 
his  pro^  ss-  ^nal  duties  that  covered  a  wide  dis- 
trict. U  w  the  wonder  of  every  visitor  to  the 
Mission  how  one  man,  with  so  few  helpers, 
accornp''  ihed  so  much.  At  the  time  of  the  mas- 
sacrr.  the  main  building  of  the  Mission  was  one 
hun».  :  i  feet  in  the  front,  with  an  L  running 
back  seventy  feet,  and  part  of  it  two  stories 
high.  Every  visitor  remarked  on  the  cleanli- 
ness and  comfort  and  thrift  which  everywhere 
appeared. 

There  are  men  who,  with  great  incentives, 
have  accomplished  great  things,  but  v/ere  utter 
failures  when  it  came  to  practical,  every  day 
duties.  Dr.  Whitman,  with  a  genius  to  conceive, 
and  the  will  and  energy  to  carry  out  the  most 
difficult  and  daring  undertaking,  was  just  as 
faithful  and  efficient  in  the  little  things  that 
made  up  the  comforts  of  his  wilderness  home. 
Seeing  these  grand  results  —  the  commodious 
house,  the  increase  in  the  herds  and  the  stacks 
of  grain  —  seems  to  have  only  angered  his  lazy, 
thriftless  Indians,  and  they  began  to  make 
demands  for  a  division  of  his  wealth. 

16 


m 


,i  I. 


h  ^1 

V.  <l 


t 


JJ42 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVBi.   OREGON. 


iilirll 
'"lil  ' 


Dr.  Whitman  has  been  accused  of  holding  his 
Indians  to  a  too  strict  moral  accountability;  that 
it  would  have  been  wiser  to  have  been  more 
lenient,  and  winked  at,  rather  than  denounced, 
some  of  their  savage  ways.  Those  who  have 
carefully  studied  the  man,  know  how  impossible 
it  would  have  been  for  him,  in  r^ny  seeming  way, 
to  condone  a  crime,  or  to  purchase  peace  with 
the  criminal  by  a  bribe.  This  was  the  method 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  and  was,  doubtless 
the  cheap  way. 

By  a  series  ot  events  and  environments,  he 
seems  to  have  been  trained  much  as  Moses  was, 
but  with  wholly  different  surroundings  from  those 
of  the  great  Lawgiver,  whose  first  training  was  in 
the  Royal  Court  and  the  schools  of  Egypt;  then 
in  its  army;  then  an  outcast,  and  as  a  shepherd, 
guiding  his  flocks,  and  finding  springs  and  pas- 
turage in  the  Land  where,  one  day,  he  was  to 
lead  his  People. 

King  David  is  another  man  made  strong  in 
the  school  of  preparation.  As  he  watched  his 
flocks  on  the  Judean  hills,  he  fought  the  lion 
and  the  bear,  and  so  was  not  afraid  to  meet 
and  fight  a  giant,  who  defied  the  armies  of  the 
living  God.  It  was  there,  under  the  stars,  that 
he  practiced  music  to  quiet  a  mad  king,  and  was 
educated  into  a  fitness  to  organize  the  great 
choirs,  and  furnish  the  grand  anthems  for  the 
temple   worship.     After  this,   in   self-deCense, 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


248 


'» 


he  became  the  commander  of  lawless  bands  of 
men,  and  so  was  trained  to  command  the  armies 
of  Israel. 

So  it  has  been  in  our  own  Nation,  with  Wash- 
ington and  Lincoln,  and  Grant  and  Garfield; 
they  had  to  pass  through  many  hardships,  and 
receive  a  many  sided  training  before  they  were 
fitted  for  the  greater  work  to  which  they  were 
called.  So  it  was,  this  strong,  conscientious, 
somewhat  restless  young  man  was  being  trained 
for  the  life  that  was  to  follow.  The  farmer  boy, 
planting  and  reaping,  the  millwright  planning 
and  building,  the  country  doctor  on  his  long, 
lonely  rides,  the  religious  teacher  who  must 
oversee  the  physical  and  spiritual  wants  of  his 
fellow  church  members,  all  were  needed  in  the 
larger  life  for  which  he  was  longing  and  look- 
ing, when  the  sad  appeal  for  the  "  Book  of  Life" 
came  from  the  Indian  Chiefs  who  had  come  so 
far,  and  failed  to  find  it.  His  immediate  and 
hearty  response  was,  "Here  am  I,  send  me!" 

Dr.  Marcus  Whitman,  judged  by  his  life  as  a 
Missionary,  must  ever  be  given  due  credit;  for 
no  man  ever  gave  evidence  of  greater  devotion 
to  the  work  he  found  to  do.  He  was  doubtless 
excelled  as  a  teacher  of  the  Indians  by  many  of 
his  co-laborers.  He  was  not,  perhaps,  even  emi- 
nent as  a  teacher.  His  great  reputation  and  the 
honor  due  him,  does  not  rest  upon  such  a  claim, 
but  upon  his  wisdom  in  seeing  the  future  of  the 


til 


$■>'.  I 


'PL 


244 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


Great  West,  and  his  heroic  rescue  of  the  land 
from  a  foreign  rule.  That  he  heard  a  call  to 
the  duty  from  a  higher  source  than  any  earthly 
potentate,  none  but  the  skeptic  will  doubt.  The 
act  stands  out  clear  and  bold  and  strong,  as  one 
of  the  finest  instances  of  unselfish  patriotism  re- 
corded in  all  history. 

DR.  JOHN    MrLOUGHLIN. 

Any  sketch  of  pioneer  Oregon  would  be  in- 
complete without  an  honorable  mention  of  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin.  He  was  the  Chief  Factor  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  an  organization  ini- 
mical to  American  interests,  both  for  pecuniary 
and  political  reasons,  and  like  Whitman,  has 
been  maligned  and  misunderstood.  As  the  lead- 
ing spirit,  during  all  the  stages  of  pioneer  life, 
his  life  and  acts  have  an  importance  second  to 
none.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  important 
for  the  comfort  and  peace  of  the  Missionaries 
than  to  have  had  a  man  as  Supreme  Ruler  of 
Oregon,  with  so  keen  a  sense  of  justice,  as  had 
Dr.  McLoughlin. 

Physically  he  was  a  fine  specimen  or  a  man. 
He  was  six  feet,  four  inches,  and  well  propor- 
tioned. His  bushy  white  hair  and  massive 
beard,  caused  the  Indians  everywhere  to  call 
him.  the  "Great  White  Head  Chief." 

He  was  born  in  1784,  and  was  eighteen  years 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


245 


older  than  Dr.  Whitman.  He  entered  the 
Northwestern  Fur  Company's  service  in  1800. 
He  afterwards  studied  medicine,  and  for  a  time 
practiced  his  profession,  but  his  fine  business 
abilities  were  so  apparent,  that  in  1824  we  find 
him  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  Oregon.  His 
power  over  the  rough  men  in  the  employ  of  the 
Company,  and  the  savage  tribes  who  filled  their 
coffers  with  wealth,  was  so  complete  as  to  be 
phenomenal. 

In  many  of  the  sketches  we  have  shown  that 
his  kindness  to  the  pioneer  Missionaries  in  an- 
other and  a  higher  sense,  proved  his  manhood. 
To  obey  the  orders  of  his  Company,  and  still  re- 
main a  humane  man,  was  something  that  re- 
quired tact  that  few  men  could  have  brought  to 
bear  as  well  as  Dr.  McLoughlin.  While  he  did 
slaughter,  financially  speaking,  traders  and  fur 
gatherers  right  and  left,  and  did  his  best  to  serve 
the  pecuniary  interests  of  his  great  monopoly, 
he  drew  the  line  there,  and  was  the  friend  and 
the  helper  of  the  Missionaries. 

If  the  reader  could  glance  through  Mrs.  Whit- 
man's diary  upon  t^e  very  opening  week  of  her 
arrival  \n  Oregon,  there  would  not  be  found  any- 
thing but  words  of  kindness  and  gratitude  to  Dr. 
McLoughlin.  In  justice  to  his  Company,  to  which 
he  was  always  loyal,  he  pushed  the  Methodist 
Missions  far  up  the  Willamette,  and  those  of  the 
American  Board  three  hundred  miles  in  another 


246 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


M  'I 


mi^ 


"'^;; 


direction.  But  at  the  same  time  he  was  a  friend 
and  brother  and  advisor,  and  anything  he  had 
was  at  their  service,  whether  they  had  money  or 
not. 

After  the  immigration  in  1842,  and  the  larger 
immigration  led  by  Whitman  in  1843,  ^^e  Com- 
pany in  England  became  alarmed  and  sent  out 
spies — Messrs.  Park,  Vavasaur  and  Peel,  who 
were  enjoined  to  find  out  whether  McLoughlin 
was  loyal  to  British  interests.  After  many  months 
spent  in  studying  the  situation,  th  *ir  adverse  re- 
port is  easily  inferred  from  the  fact  that  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin was  ordered  to  report  to  headquarters. 
The  full  history  of  that  secret  investigation  has 
never  yet  been  revealed,  but  when  it  is,  the  whole 
b'ame  will  be  found  resting  upon  Whitman  and 
his  Missionary  co-workers,  who  wrested  the  land 
from  English  rule,  and  that  Dr.  McLoughlin 
aided  them  to  success. 

When  the  charge  of  "Friendship  to  the 
Missionaries,"  was  made,  the  old  Doctor  flared 
up  and  replied,  "  What  would  you  have?  Would 
you  have  me  turn  the  cold  shoulder  on  the  men 
of  God  who  came  to  do  that  for  the  Indians 
which  this  Company  has  neglected  to  do?  If  we 
had  not  helped  the  immigrants  in  '42  and  '43  and 
*44,  and  relieved  their  necessities.  Fort  Van- 
couver would  have  been  destroyed  and  the  world 
would  have  treated  us  as  our  inhuman  conduct 
deserved;  every  officer  of   the  Company,  from 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


247 


M 


Governor  down,  would  have  been  covered  with 
obloquy,  and  the  Company's  business  ruined!" 

But  it  all  resulted  in  the  resignation  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin.  The  injustice  he  received  at  the 
hands  of  Americans  afterward,  is  deeply  to  be 
regretted,  and  it  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the 
thinking  people  of  the  State  of  Oregon  that  they 
have  done  their  best  to  remedy  the  wrong.  At 
many  times,  and  in  a  multitude  of  ways,  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin, by  his  kindness  to  the  Misionaries, 
won  for  himself  the  gratitude  of  thinking  Amer- 
icans in  all  the  years  to  come.  With  a  bad  man 
in  his  place  as  Chief  Factor,  the  old  Missionaries 
would  have  found  life  in  Oregon  well-nigh  un- 
bearable. While  true  to  the  exclusive  and  self- 
ish interests  of  the  great  monopoly  he  served, 
he  yet  refused  to  resort  to  any  form  of  unmanli- 
ness. 

After  his  abuse  by  the  English  Company  and 
his  severance  of  all  connection  with  it,  he  settled 
at  Oregon  City  and  lived  and  died  an  American 
citizen.  The  tongue  of  slander  was  freely 
wagged  against  him,  and  his  declining  years 
were  made  miserable  by  unthinking  Americans 
and  revengeful  Englishmen.  His  property,  of 
which  he  had  been  deprived,  was  returned  to  his 
heirs,  and  to-day  his  memory  is  cherished  as 
ankopg  Oregon's  benefactors.  A  fine  oil  painting 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  secured  and  paid  for  by 
the  old  pioneers  and  presented  to  the  State. 


'm 


-:.?  I 


<!  ■'  i  ■ 


f; 


248 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON, 


The  Hon.  John  Minto,  in  making  the  address 
at  the  hanging  of  the  picture,  closed  with  these 
words: 

"In  this  sad  summary  of  such  a  life  as  Ur. 
McLoughlin's,  there  is  a  statement  that  merits 
our  attention,  which,  if  ever  proven  true,  and  no 
man  who  ever  knew  Dr.  McLoughlin  will  doubt 
that  he  believed  it  true,  namely,  that  he  pre- 
vented war  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  will  show  that  two  of  the  greatest  Nations 
on  this  Earth  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude,  and 
that  Oregon,  in  particular,  is  doubly  bound  to 
him  as  a  public  benefactor.  British  state  papers 
may  some  day  prove  all  this." 

"It  is  now  twenty-six  years  since  the  Legisla- 
tive Assembly  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  so  far  as 
restoration  of  property  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
family  could  undo  the  wrong  of  Oregon's  Land 
Bill,  gave  gladness  to  the  heart  of  every  Oregon 
Pioneer  worthy  of  the  name.  All  of  them  yet 
living,  now  know  that,  good  man  as  they  believed 
him,  he  was  better  than  they  knew.  They  see 
him  now^  after  the  strife  and  jealousies  of  race, 
National,  business,  and  sectarian  interests  are 
allayed,  standing  in  the  center  of  all  these  causes 
of  contention  —  a  position  in  which  to  please  all 
parties  was  impossible,  to  "  Maintain  which,  only 
a  good  man  could  bear  with  patience"  —  and 
they  have  adopted  this  means  of  conveying  their 
appreciation    of    this    great     forbearance    and 


.  x 


■'I  I 


DR.  JOHN  MCLOUGHLIN, 
Chief  Factor  of  Hudson  Bay  Co.,  at  Fort  Walla  Walla. 


t'  ¥. 


II       V   ll 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


249 


patient  endurance,  combined  with  his  generous 
conduct." 

"  Looking,  then,  at  this  line  of  action  in  the 
light  of  the  merest  glimpses  of  history,  known  to 
be  true  by  witnesses  living,  can  any  honest  man 
wonder  that  the  pioneers  of  Oregon,  who  have 
eaten  the  salt  of  this  man's  hospitality,  who  have 
been  the  eye-witnesses  to  his  brave  care  for 
humanity,  and  participators  in  his  generous  aid, 
are  unwilling  to  go  to  their  graves  in  silence  — 
which  would  imply  base  ingratitude  —  a  silence 
which  would  be  eloquent  with  falsehood  ?" 

"Governor  and  Representatives  of  Oregon: 
In  recognition  of  the  wci  thy  m:'  nner  in  which  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  filled  hib  txying  and  respon- 
sible position,  in  the  h-iartfelt  glow  of  a  grateful 
remembrance  of  his  h'jrnane  :  ad  noble  conduct 
to  them,  the  Oregon  Pioricer?  leave  this  portait 
with  you,  hoping  that  laeir  descendants  will  not 
forget  the  friend  of  their  fathers,  and  trusting 
that  this  At  of  the  men  and  /omen  who  led  the 
advance  .hich  has  planted  thirty  thousand  rifles 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Columbia,  and  three  hun- 
dred thousand,  when  needed,  in  the  National 
Domain,  facing  the  Pacific  Ocean,  will  be  deemed 
worthy  of  a  place  in  your  halls." 


vV'  ' 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


WHITMAN  SEMINARY  AND  COLLEGE. 


■V' 


l\M 


Many  institutions  of  learning  have  been 
erected  and  endowed  by  the  generosity  of  the 
the  rich,  but  Whitman  Seminary  and  College  had 
its  foundation  laid  in  faith  and  prayer.  Viewed 
from  a  worldly  standpoint,  backed  only  by  a 
poor  MisP  onary,  whose  possessions  could  be 
packed  upon  the  back  of  a  mule,  the  outlook  did 
not  seem  promising.  During  all  the  years  of 
his  Missionary  service  in  Oregon,  none  knew 
better  the  value  of  the  patriotic  Christian  service 
of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  than  did  the  Rever- 
end Dr.  Cushing  Eells  and  his  good  wife. 
After  the  massacre.  Dr.  Eells,  and  all  his  co- 
workers were  moved  under  military  escort  to  the 
Willamette,  but  he  writes: 

"My  eyes  were  constantly  turned  east  of  the 
Cascade  Range,  a  region  I  have  given  the  best 
years  of  my  life  to." 

It  was  not  until   1859  when  the  country  was 


SfiO 


i 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


251 


rife, 
co- 
the 


declared  open  that  he  visited  Walla  Walla,  and 
stood  at  the  "Great  grave  of  Dr.  Whitman  and 
his  wife."  Standing  there  upon  the  consecrated 
spot,  he  says: 

"I  believe  that  the  power  of  the  Hignest 
came  upon  me."  And  there  he  solemnly  vowed 
that  he  would  do  something  to  honor  the  Chris- 
tian martyrs  whose  remains  rested  in  that  grave. 
He  says:  "I  felt  as  though  if  Dr.  Whitman  were 
alive,  he  would  prefer  a  high  school  for  the  bene- 
fit of  both  sexes,  rather  than  a  monument  of 
marble." 

He  pondered  the  subject  and  upon  reaching 
home,  sought  the  advice  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Association.  The  subject  was  carefully 
canvassed  by  those  who  well  knew  all  the  sad 
history,  and  the  following  note  was  entered  upon 
the  record. 

"  In  the  judgment  of  this  Association,  the  con- 
templated purpose  of  Brother  C.  Eells  to  remove 
to  Waiilatpui,  to  establish  a  Christian  School  at 
that  place,  to  be  called  the  Whitman  Seminary, 
in  memory  of  the  noble  deeds  and  great  works 
and  the  fulfillment  of  the  benevolent  plans  of  the 
late  lamented  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  wife:  And 
his  further  purpose  to  act  as  Home  Missiona'-y 
in  the  Walla  Walla  Valley,  meets  our  cordial 
approbation  and  shall  receive  our  earnest  sup- 
port." 

Dr.  Eells  at  once  resigned  from  the  Tualitin 


!    I 


|l     i 


I    ' 


252 


HOW  MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


' 


I  i 


Academy,  where  he  was  then  teaching,  and  in 
1859  and  '60  obtained  the  charter  for  the 
Whitman  Seminary.  Dr.  Eells  had  hoped 
to  be  employed  by  the  Home  Missionary 
Society,  but  that  organization  declined,  as  its 
object  was  not  to  build  seminaries  and  col- 
leges, but  to  establish  churches.  He  bought 
from  the  American  Board  for  $1,000  the  farm  of 
640  acres  where  Dr.  Whitman  had  toiled  for 
eleven  years. 

It  was  Dr.  Eells  idea  to  build  a  Seminary 
directly  upon  this  consecrated  ground,  and  gather 
a  quiet  settlement  about  the  school.  But  he 
soon  found  that  it  would  be  better  to  locate  the 
Seminary  in  the  village,  at  that  time  made  up  c£ 
five  resident  families  and  about  one  hundred 
men.  It,  however,  was  in  sight  of  the  "Great 
Grave." 

Here  the  Eells  family  settled  down  upon  the 
farm  for  hard  work  to  raise  the  funds  necessary 
to  erect  the  buildings  necessary  for  the  Semi- 
nary. He  preached  without  compensation  up 
and  down  the  Valley  upon  the  Sabbath,  and  like 
Paul,  worked  with  his  hands  during  the  week. 
His  first  Summer's  work  on  the  farm  brought  in 
$7cxd;  enough  nearly  to  pay  three-fourths  of  its 
cost;  thus  year  after  year  Dr.  Eells  and  his 
faithful  wife  labored  on  and  on.  He  plowed  and 
reaped,  and  cut  cord  wood,  while  she  made 
butter,  and  raised  chickens  and  saved  every 
dollar  for  the  one  grand  purpose  of  doing  honor 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


253 


to  their  noble  friends   in  the   "Great  Grave" 
always  in  sight. 

Rarely  in  this  world  has  there  been  a  more 
beautiful  demonstration  of  loyalty  and  friend- 
ship, than  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Eells.  They  lived 
and  labored  on  the  farm  for  ten  years,  and  en- 
dured all  the  privations  and  isolations  common 
to  such  a  life.  An  article  in  the  "  Congregation- 
alist"  says: 

"Mother  Eells'  churn  with  which  she  made 
four  hundred  pounds  of  butter  for  sale,  ought  to 
be  kept  for  an  honored  place  in  the  cabinet  of 
Whitman  College." 

It  was  by  such  sacrifices  that  the  first  $4,000 
were  raised  to  begin  the  buildings.  Five  years 
had  passed  after  the  charter  was  granted,  be- 
fore th'^-  Seminary  was  located,  and  then  only 
on  paper.  And  this  was  seven  years  before  the 
completion  of  the  first  school  building;  the  dedi- 
cation of  which  occurred  on  October  13,  1866. 

The  first  principal  was  the  Rev.  P.  B.  Cham- 
berlain, who  also  organized  and  was  first  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Walla  Walla. 
In  1880,  under  the  new  impulse  given  to  the 
work  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  G.  H.  Atkinson,  of  Port- 
land, Whitman  Seminary  developed  into  Whit- 
man College.  This  was  finally  accomplished  in 
1883.  During  that  year,  College  Hall  was  erected 
at  a  cost  of  $16,000.  During  1883  and  1884,  in 
the  same  spirit  he  had  at  all  times  exhibited,  Dr. 


n 


254 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


I 


Eells  felt  it  his  duty  to  visit  New  England  in  the 
interest  of  the  Institution.     He  says: 

"  It  was  the  hardest  year's  work  I  ever  did,  to 
raise  that  sixteen  thousand  dollars." 

The  old  pioneer  would  much  rather  have  cut 
cord  wood  or  plowed  his  fields,  if  that  would 
have  brought  in  the  money  for  his  loved  College. 
The  Christian  who  reads  Dr.  Eells'  diary  during 
the  closing  years  of  his  life,  will  easily  see  how 
devoted  he  was  to  the  work  of  honoring  the 
memory  of  the  occupants  of  the  "Great  Grave." 
His  diary  of  May  24,  1890,  says: 

"The  needs  of  Whitman  College  cause  serious 
thought.  My  convictions  have  been  that  my 
efforts  in  its  behalf  were  in  obedience  to  Divine 
Will."        , 

June  1 1 ,  1 890.  "  During  intervals  of  the  night 
was  exercised  in  prayer  for  Whitman  College. 
I  am  persuaded  that  my  prayers  are  prevailing. 
In  agony  I  pray  for  Whitman  College." 

October  2nd.  "  Dreamed  of  Whitman  Col- 
.ege  and  awoke  with  a  prayer." 

His  last  entry  in  his  diary  was:  "  I  could  die 
for  Whitman  College." 

The  grand  old  man  went  to  his  great  reward 
in  June,  1892.  Will  the  Christian  people  of  the 
land  allow  such  a  prayer  to  go  unanswered  ? 

In  1884  Mrs.  N.  F.  Cobleigh  did  some  very 
effective  work  in  canvassing  sections  of  New 
England  in  behalf  of  the  College,  succeeding  in 
raising  $8,000. 


»» 


rard 
If  the 

very 

New 
Ingin 


HOW    MAKCUS    WHITMAN   SAVED   OKEGON. 


255 


Dr.  Anderson,  after  his  efficient  labors  of  nine 
years,  with  many  discouraf^ements,  resigned  the 
Presidency  in  1S91,  and  the  Rev.  James  F.  Eaton, 
another  scholary  earnest  man,  assumed  its  duties. 
In  the  meantime  the  stuggling  village  of  Walla 
Walla  had  grown  into  the  "Garden  City,"  and 
the  demands  upon  such  an  institution  had  in- 
creased a  hundred  fold  in  the  rapid  development 
of  the  country  in  every  direction.  The  people 
began  to  see  the  wisdom  of  the  founder,  and 
cast  about  for  means  to  make  the  College  more 
efificient.  The  Union  Journal  of  Walla  Walla, 
said: 

"  It  is  our  pride.  It  is  the  cap  sheaf  of  the 
educational  institutions  of  Walla  Walla,  and 
should  be  the  pride  and  boast  of  every  good 
Walla  Wallan.  It  has  a  corps  of  exceptionally 
good  instructors,  under  the  guidance  of  a  man 
possessing  breadth  of  intellect,  liberal  education 
and  an  enthusiastic  desire  to  be  successful  in  his 
chosen  field  of  labor,  with  students  who  rank  in 
natural  ability  with  the  best  product  of  any  land. 
But  it  is  deficient  in  facilities.  It  lacks  room  in 
v/hich  to  grow.  It  lacks  library  and  apparatus, 
the  tools  of  education." 

President  Eaton  and  the  faculty  saw  this  need 
and  the  necessity  of  a  great  effort.  It  was  un- 
der this  pressure,  and  the  united  desire  of  the 
friends  of  the  College  that  the  Rev.  Stephen  B.  L. 
Penrose,  of  the  "Yale  band"  assumed  the  duties 


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256 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


of  President  in  1894,  and  began  his  plans  to  raise 
an  endowment  fund  and  place  the  College  upon 
a  sound  financial  basis,  as  well  as  to  increase  its 
educational  facilities  and  requirements. 

It  was  the  misfortune  of  these  educators  to 
enter  the  field  for  money  at  a  time  of  great  finan- 
cial embarassment,  such  as  has  not  been  experi- 
enced in  many  decades;  but  it  was  at  the  same 
time  their  good  fortune  to  enlist  the  aid  of  Dr. 
D.  K.  Pearsons  of  Chicago,  in  the  grand  work 
with  a  generous  gift  of  $50,000,  provided  that 
others  could  be  induced  to  add  $150,000  to  it. 

With  such  a  start  and  with  such  a  man  as  Dr. 
Pearsons,  there  will  be  no  such  word  as  fail.  He 
is  a  man  of  faith  like  Dr.  Eells  and  has  long 
been  administering  upon  his  own  estate  in  wise 
and  generous  gifts  to  deserving  institutions. 
With  such  a  man  to  encourage  other  liberal 
givers,  the  (endowment  will  not  stop  at  $200,000. 
If  Whitman  College  is  to  be  the  Yale  and  Har- 
vard and  Chicago  University  of  the  Far  West, 
it  must  meet  with  a  generous  response  from 
liberal  givers.  Its  name  alone  ought  to  be  worth 
a  million  in  money.  When  the  people  are  edu- 
cated in  Whitman  history,  the  money  will  come 
and  the  prayers  of  Dr.  Eells  will  be  answered. 

The  millions  of  people  love  fair  play  and 
honest  dealing  and  can  appreciate  solid  work,  and 
they  will  learn  to  love  the  memory  of  the  modest 
hero,  and  will  be  glad  to  do  him  honor  in  so 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


257 


,e 
m 
ts 

to 

in-. 

iri- 

me 

Dr. 

ork 

:hat 


practical  a  method.  It  will  soon  be  half  a  cen- 
tury since  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  noble  wife  fell 
at  their  post  of  duty  at  Waiilatpui.  Had  Dr. 
Whitman  been  a  million n ire,  a  man  of  noble 
birth,  had  he  been  a  military  man  or  a  states- 
man, his  praise  would  have  been  sung  upon  his- 
toric pages  as  the  praise  of  others  has.  But  he 
was  only  a  poor  Missionary  Doctor,  who  lost  his 
life  in  the  vain  effort  to  civilize  and  Christianize 
savages,  and  an  army  of  modern  historians  seem 
to  have  thought,  as  we  have  shown  in  another 
chapter,  that  the  world  would  sit  quietly  by  and 
see  and  applaud  while  they  robbed  him  of  his 
richly  won  honors.  In  that  they  have  over- 
reached themselves.  The  name  of  Dr.  Marcus 
Whitman  will  be  honored  and  revered  long  after 
the  names  of  his  traducers  have  been  obliterated 
and  forgotten. 

It  is  a  name  with  a  history,  which  will  grow 
in  honor  and  importance  as  the  great  States  he 
saved  to  the  Union  will  grow  into  the  grandeur 
they  naturally  assume.  There  is  not  a  clearer 
page  of  history  in  all  the  books  than  that  Dr. 
Whitman,  under  the  leading  of  Providence,  saved 
the  States  of  Oregon,  Washington  and  Idaho  to 
the  Union.  There  is  a  possibility  that  by  a  long 
and  destructive  war  we  might  have  held  them  as 
against  the  claims  of  England.  There  were  just 
two  men  who  prevented  that  war  and  those  two 
men  were  Drs.  Whitman  and  McLoughlin.  The 
17 


i 


i 


a 


-    -9-lt-t:- 


258 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


latter  indirectly  by  his  humane  and  civilized 
treatment  of  the  Missionaries  when  he  might 
have  crushed  them,  and  the  former  by  his  unpar- 
alleled heroism  in  his  mid-winter  ride  to  Wash-, 
ington,  and  his  wisdom  in  piloting  the  immigra- 
tions to  Oregon  just  the  year  that  he  did. 

History  correctly  written,  willtruthfully  say, 
"When  Whitman  fell  at  Waiilatpui,  one  of  the 
grandest  heroes  of  this  century  went  to  his  great 
reward."  The  State  of  Washington  has  done  well 
to  name  a  great  County  to  perpetuate  his  mem- 
ory; Dr.  Eells  did  a  noble  act  in  founding  Whit-> 
man  Seminary,  and  the  time  is  coming  and  is 
near  at  hand,  when  the  young  men  and  women 
of  the  Country  will  prize  a  diploma  inscribed 
with  the  magic  name  of  Whitman.  Endow  the 
College  and  endow  it  generously.  Make  it 
worthy  of  the  man  whose  love  of  Country  felt 
that  no  task  was  too  difficult  and  no  danger  too 
great  to  make  him  hesitate. 

After  the  endowment  is  full  and  complete,  a 
great  College  Hall  should  be  erected  from  a 
patriotic  fund,  and  upon  the  central  pillar  should 
be  inscribed :  "  Sacred  to  the  Memory  of  Dr. 
Marcus  and  Narcissa  Whitman.  While  lifting 
up  the  banner  of  the  cross  in  one  hand  to  redeem 
and  save  savage  souls,  they  thought  it  no  wrong 
to  carry  the  flag  of  the  country  they  loved  in  the 
other." 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  dividing  the  hon- 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


259 


hon- 


ors. They  are  simply  Whitman  honors;  they 
lived  and  labored  and  achieved  together;  the 
bride  upon  the  plains  and  in  the  Mission  home 
was  a  heroine  scarcely  second  to  the  hero  whc 
swam  icy  rivers,  and  climbed  the  snow  coverea 
mountains  in  1842  a'nd  1843,  upon  his  patriotic 
mission.  It  is  a  work  that  may  well  engage  the 
patriotic  women  of  America;  for  true  woman- 
hood has  never  had  a  more  beautiful  setting 
than  in  the  life  of  Narcissa  Whitman.  At  the 
death,  by  drowning,  of  her  only  child,  that  she 
almost  idolized,  she  bowed  humbly  and  said: 
"Thy  Will  be  done!"  And  upon  the  day  of 
her  death,  was  mother  to  eleven  helpless  child- 
ren, for  whose  safety  she  prayed  in  her  expiring 
moments. 

What  an  unselfish  life  she  led.  In  her  diary 
she  says,  but  in  no  complaining  mood:  "Situ- 
ated as  we  are,  our  bouse  is  the  Missonaries' 
tavern,  and  we  must  accommodate  more  or  less 
all  the  time.  We  have  no  less  than  seven 
families  in  our  two  houses;  we  are  in  peculiar 
and  somewhat  trying  circumstances;  we  cannot 
sell  to  them  because  we  are  Missionaries  and  not 
traders." 

And  we  see  by  the  record  that  there  were  no 
less  than  seventj^  souls  in  the  Whitman  family 
the  day  of  the  massacre. 

Emerson  says:  "  Heroism  is  an  obedience  to 
a  secret  impulse  of  individual  character,  and  the 


i'j 


M 


rm 


260 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


chaidcteristics  of  genuine  heroism  is  its  persist- 
ency." 

Where  was  it  ever  more  strongiy  marked 
than  in  Dr.  Whitman?  We  are  told  that  "His- 
tory repeats  itself."  Going  back  upon  the  his- 
toric pages,  one  can  find  the  best  illustration  of 
Dr.  Whitman  in  faithful  old  Caleb.  Their  lives 
seem  to  run  along  similar  lines.  Both  were  sent 
to  spy  out  the  land.  Both  returned  and  made  true 
and  faithful  reports.  Both  were  selected  for 
their  great  physical  fitness,  and  for  their  fine 
mental  and  moral  worth;  and  both  proved 
among  the  finest  specimens  of  unselfish  man- 
hood ever  recorded.  Turning  to  the  Sacred 
Record  we  read  that  a  great  honor  was  ordered 
for  Caleb;  not  only  that  he  was  permitted  to  en- 
ter the  promised  land,  but  it  was  also  understood 
by  all,  that  he  should  have  the  choice  of  all  the 
fair  country  they  were  to  occupy.  H  is  associates 
sent  with  him  forty  years  before  were  terribly 
afraid  of  "the  giants,"  and  now  they  had  reached 
"The  land  of  promise,"  and  Joshua  had  assem- 
bled the  leaders  of  Israel  to  assign  them  their 
places.  Just  notice  old  Caleb.  Standing  in  view 
of  the  meadows  and  fields  and  orchards,  loaded 
with  their  rich  clusters  of  purple  grapes,  every- 
body expected  he  would  select  the  best,  for  they 
knew  that  it  was  both  promised  and  he  deserved 
it;  but  Caleb,  lifting  up  his  voice  so  that  all  could 
hear,  said: 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


261 


im- 
leir 


"  Lo,  I  am  this  day  four  score  and  five  years 
old.  As  yet  I  am  as  strong  this  day  as  I  was  in 
the  day  that  Moses  sent  me;  as  my  strength  was 
then,  even  so  is  my  strength  now  for  war,  both 
to  go  out  and  to  come  in.  Now,  therefore,  give 
me  this  mountain  whereof  the  Lord  spoke  in 
that  day;  for  thou  heardest  in  that  day  how  the 
Anakims  were  there,  and  that  the  cities  were 
great  and  fenced.  If  so  be,  the  Lord  will  be 
with  me,  then  I  shall  be  able  to  drive  them  out 
as  the  Lord  said." 

Noble,  unselfish  old  Caleb!  And  how  won- 
derfully like  him  was  our  hero  thirty-four  and  a 
half  centuries  later.  It  mattered  not  that  he 
had  saved  a  great  country,  twice  as  large  as  New 
York,  Petinsylvania  and  Illinois  combined,  or 
thirty-two  times  as  large  as  Massachusetts.  It 
mattered  not  that  it  was  accomplished  through 
great  peril  and  trials  and  sufferings  that  no  man 
can  over-estimate,  he  never  once  asked  a  re- 
ward. "  Give  me  this  mountain,"  and  he  went 
back  to  his  Mission,  and  resumed  his  heavy  bur- 
den, and  let  others  gather  the  harvest,  and  "  the 
clusters  of  purple  grapes."  There  he  was  found 
at  his  post  of  duty,  and  met  death  on  that  fatal 
November  the  29th,  1847. 

When  a  generous  people  have  made  the  en- 
dowment complete,  and  built  the  grand  Memor- 
ial Hall,  they  should  build  a  monument  at  the 
"  Great  Grave"  at  Waiilatpui.  Americans  are  pa- 


m 


I 


< 


^:  -I  m 


!   ti  ;  ^f 


3^ 


n 


I 


262 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


triotic.  They  build  monuments  to  their  men  of 
science,  to  their  statesmen  and  to  their  soldiers. 
It  is  right  to  do  so.  They  are  grand  object  les- 
sons, educating  the  young  in  patriotism  and  vir- 
tue and  right  living.  The  monument  at  no 
grave  in  all  the  land  will  more  surely  teach  all 
these,  than  will  that  at  the  neglected  grave  at 
Waiilatpui.  Build  the  monument  and  tell  your 
children's  children  to  go  and  stand  uncovered 
in  its  shadow,  and  receive  its  lessons  and  breathe 
in  its  inspirations  of  patriotism^ 


3 
II 
It 

ir 
id 
le 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


OREGON  THEN,  AND  OREGON,  WASHINGTON,  AND  IDAHO 

NOW. 


The  beginning  of  a  People,  a  State,  or  a  Nation 
is  always  an  interesting  study,  and  when  the  be- 
ginning has  resulted  in  a  .grand  success,  the 
interest  increases.  It  is  seldom  that  in  the  life- 
time of  the  multitudes  of  living  actors,  so  great  a 
transformation  can  be  seen  as  that  to-day  illus- 
trated in  the  Pacific  States.  Fifty  years  ago,  the 
immigrant,  after  his  long  journey  over  arid 
plains,  after  swimming  rivers,  and  climbing  three 
ranges  of  mountains,  stood  upon  the  last  slope, 
and  beheld  primeval  beauty  spread  out  before 
him.  The  millions  of  acres  of  green  meadows 
had  never  been  disturbed  by  a  furrow,  and  in  the 
great  forest  the  sound  of  the  woodman's  ax  had 
never  been  heard. 

Coming  by  way  of  the  great  River,  as  it  meets 
the  incoming  waves  of  the  Pacific,  the  scene  is 
still  more   one  of  grandeur.      Astoria,   at  that 

263 


» 


'i:!v. 


264 


now   MAkCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


JiJ  1, 


time,  had  a  few  stra^jijling  huts,  and  Portland 
was  a  villajje,  with  its  streets  so  full  of  stumps, 
as  to  require  a  jifood  driver  to  get  through  with 
safety,  and  was  referred  to  as  a  town  twelve 
miles  below  Oregon  City. 

To  the  writer,  nothing  has  left  such  an  im- 
pression of  wildern(;ss  and  solitude  as  a  journey 
up  the  Willamette,  forty-five  years  ago,  in  a 
birch-bark  canoe,  paddled  by  two  Indian  guides. 
The  wild  ducks  were  scarcely  disturbed,  and 
dropped  to  the  water  a  hundred  yards  away,  and 
the  three-pronged  buck,  browsing  among  the 
lily  pads,  stopped  to  look  at  the  unusual  invasion 
of  his  domain,  and  went  on  feeding. 

The  population  of  Oregon  in  that  year,  1850, 
as  shown  by  census,  was  13,294,  and  that  included 
all  of  Oregon,  Washington,  and  Idaho,  with  a 
part  of  Wyoming  and  Montana. 

After  years  of  importunity,  Congress  had 
given  Oregon  a  Territorial  Government,  in  1849. 
Prior  to  that  -from  1843  ^o  1849  —  it  was  an 
independent  American  government,  for  the 
people  and  by  the  people.  Notwithstanding  the 
neglect  of  Oregon  by  the  General  Government, 
and  its  entire  failure  to  foster  or  protect,  the  old 
Pioneers  were  true  and  loyal  American  citizens, 
and  for  six  years  took  such  care  of  themselves  as 
they  were  able,  and  performed  the  task  so  well 
as  to  merit  the  best  words  of  commendation. 

The  commerce  of  the  country,  aside  from  its 


had 

849- 
J  an 

the 
^  the 
lent, 

old 
jens, 
tesas 

well 


i: 


Im  its 


REV.  STEPHEN  B.  L.  PENROSE, 
President  of  Whitman  College. 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON, 


26t 


furs,  was  scarcely  worth  mentioning.  The 
author,  in  185 1,  bought  what  few  salted  salmon 
there  were  in  the  market,  and  shipped  them  to 
San  Francisco,  but  wise  and  prudent  advisers 
regarded  it  as  a  risky  venture.  He  would  have 
been  considered  a  wild  visionary,  indeed,  had  he 
even  hinted  of  the  shipments  of  fish  now  annu- 
ally made  to  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world. 

It  was  then  known  that  the  rivers  were  filled 
with  fish.  In  the  Spring  of  the  year,  the  smaller 
streams,  leading  away  from  the  Columbia,  were 
literally  blocked  with  almost  solid  masses  of  fish 
on  their  way  to  their  spawning  grounds.  The 
bears  along  the  Columbia,  as  well  as  the  Indians, 
had  an  unlimited  supply  of  the  finest  fish  in 
the  world,  with  scarcely  an  effort  to  take  them. 
An  Indian  on  the  Willamette,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Falls,  could  fill  his  boat  in  an  hour  with  salmon 
weighing  from  twenty  to  forty  pounds. 

In  the  Spring  of  the  year,  when  the  sa.mon 
are  running  up  the  Willamette,  they  begin  to 
jump  from  the  water  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before 
reaching  the  Falls.  One  could  sit  in  a  boat,  and 
see  hundreds  of  the  great  fish  in  the  air  con- 
stantly. Multituf^es  of  them  maimed  and  killed 
themselves  jumping  againsi  the  rocks  at  the 
Falls. 

The  Indian  did  not  wait  for  "  a  rise  "  or  "  a 
bite."  He  had  a  hook  with  an  eye  socket,  and  a 
pole  ten  feet  or  more  long.    The  hook  he  fas- 


'y. 


I 


£?■  ;!■! 


Uh 


If 


Mli 


266 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


tened  to  a  deer  thong,  about  two  feet  long, 
attached  to  the  lower  end  of  the  pole.  When 
ready  for  fishing,  the  pole  was  inserted  into  the 
socket  of  the  hook,  and  he  felt  for  his  fish,  and, 
by  a  sudden  jerk,  caught  it  in  the  belly.  The 
hook  was  pulled  from  the  pole,  and  the  fish  had 
a  play  of  the  two  feet  of  deer  thong.  But  the 
Indian  never  stops  to  experiment ;  he  hauled  in 
his  prize. 

The  great  forests  and  prairies  were  a  very 
paradise  for  the  hunters  of  large  game.  Up  to 
the  date  of  1842-3,  of  Dr.  Whitman's  ride,  but  a 
single  hundred  Americans  had  settled  in  Oregon, 
and  they  seemed  to  be  almost  accidental  guests. 
The  immigration  in  1842  swelled  the  list,  and  the 
caravan  of  1843  started  the  tide,  so  that  in  1850, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  first  census  showed  an 
American  population  of  13,294. 

In  1890,  in  contrast,  the  population  of  \vash- 
ington  was  349,390 ;  Oregon,  313,767 ;  Idaho, 
84,385,  and  five  counties  in  Southwestern  Mon- 
tana and  one  in  Wyoming,  originally  Oregon 
territory,  had  a  population  of  65,862,  making  a 
total  of  813,404.  Considering  the  difficulties  of 
reaching  these  distant  States  for  many  years,  this 
change,  in  less  than  half  a  century,  is  a  wonderful 
transformation.  The  Indians  had  held  undis- 
puted possession  of  the  land  for  generations,  and 
yet,  as  careful  a  census  as  could  be  made,  placed 
their  number  at  below  75,000.  In  1892,  the  Indian 
Commissioner  marks  the  number  at  21,057. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


20)7 


The  great  changes  are  seen  in  the  fact  that 
in  1838  there  were  but  thirteen  settlements  by 
white  men  in  Oregon,  viz:  That  at  Waiilatpui, 
at  Lapvvai,  at  the  Dalles  and  near  Salem,  and  the 
Hudson  Bay  Forts  at  Walla  Walla,  Colville, 
Fort  Hall,  Boise,  Vancouver,  Nisqually,  Umpqua, 
Okanogan  and  the  settlement  at  Astoria.  The 
old  MTssionaries  felt  thankful  when  letters 
reached  them  within  two  years  after  they  were 
written. 

Mrs.  \  itman's  first  letter  from  home  was 
two  years  and  six  months  reaching  the  Mission. 
The  most  sure  and  safe  route  was  by  way  of 
New  York  or  Montreal  to  London,  around  the 
Horn  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  from  which  place 
a  vessel  sailed  every  year  for  Columbia.  The 
wildest  visionaries  at  that  time  had  ncc  dreamed 
of  being  bound  to  the  East  by  bar^ds  of  steel,  as 
Senator  McDuffie  said:  "  The  wealth  of  the  Indies 
would  be  insufficient  t  j  connect  by  steam  the 
Columbia  River  to  the  States  of  the  East."  Un- 
cle Sam,  seeTis  to  have  been  taking  a  very  sound 
and  peaceful  nap.  He  did  not  own  California, 
and  was  even  desirous  of  trading  Oregon  for  the 
cod  fisheries  of  Newfoundland. 

The  debt  of  .gratitude  the  Americans  owe  to 
the  men  and  women  who  endured  the  privations 
of  that  early  day,  and  educated  the  Nation  into 
the  knowledge  of  its  future  glory  and  greatness, 
has  not  been  fully  appreciated.    The  settlers  of 


; 


I 


268 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


no  other  States  of  the  frontier  encountered  such 
severe  tests  of  courage  and  loyalty.  The  Mid- 
dle States  of  the  Great  West,  while  they  had 
their  hardships  and  trials,  were  always  within 
reach  of  the  strong  arm  of  the  Government,  and 
felt  its  fostering  care,  and  had  many  comforts 
which  were  wholly  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
Oregon  Pioneers. 

Their  window  glass  for  years  and  years  was 
dressed  deer  skin;  their  parlor  chairs  were 
squat e  blocks  of  wood;  their  centre  tables  were 
made  by  driving  down  four  sticks  and  sawing 
boards  by  hand  for  top,  the  nearest  saw-mill  be- 
ing four  hundred  miles  off.  A  ten-penny  nail 
was  prized  as  a  jewel,  and  until  Dr.  Whitman 
bailt  his  mill,  a  barrel  of  flour  cost  him  twenty- 
four  dollars,  and  in  those  days  that  amount  of 
money  was  equal  to  a  hundred  in  our  times  of 
to-day. 

The  plows  were  all  wood,  and  deer  thongs 
took  the  place  of  iron  in  binding  the  parts  to- 
gether. It  was  ten  years  after  they  began  to 
raise  wheat  before  they  had  any  other  imple- 
ment than  the  sickle,  and  for  threshing,  the 
wooden  flail.  It  was  in  the  year  1839,  the  first 
printing  press  reached  Oregon.  It  may  be 
marked  as  among  the  pioneer  civilizers  of  this 
now  great  and  prosperous  Christian  Land. 

That  press  has  a  notable  history  and  is  to- 
day preserved  at  the  State  Capital  of  Oregon  as 


.  T 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGAN. 


260 


of 
of 

ongs 
s  to- 
ll to 

the 

first 

be 

this 


a  relic  of  by-gone  days  in  printing.  Long  be- 
fore the  civilization  of  Oregon^  had  begun  in 
1819,  the  Congregational  Missionaries  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands  had  imported  this  press  around 
the  Horn  from  New  England,  and  from  that 
time  up  to  1839,  it  had  served  an  excellent  pur- 
pose in  furnishing  Christian  literature  to  the 
Kanakas.  But  the  Sandwich  Islanders  had 
grown  beyond  it;  and  being  presented  with  a 
finer  outfit,  the  First  Native  Church  at  Hono- 
lulu made  a  present  of  the  press,  ink  and  paper 
to  the  Missions  of  Waiilatpui,  Lapwai  and  Wal- 
ker's Plains. 

The  whole  was  valued  at  $450  at  that  time. 
The  Press  was  located  at  Lapwai,  and  used  to 
print  portions  of  Scripture  and  hymn  books  in 
the  Nez  Perces  language,  which  books  were 
used  in  all  the  Missions  of  the  American  Board. 
Visitors  to  these  tribes  of  Indians,  twenty-five 
years  after  the  Missions  had  been  broken  up, 
and  the  Indians  had  been  dispersed,  found  cop- 
ies of  those  books  still  in  use  and  prized  as  great 
treasures. 

Another  interesting  event  was  the  building 
of  the  first  steamer,  the  Lot  Whitcomb,  in  the 
Columbia  River  waters.  This  steamer  was  built 
of  Oregon  fir  and  spruce,  and  was  launched  Dec. 
26th,  1850,  at  Milwaukee,  then  a  rival  of  Port- 
land. It  was  a  staunch,  well  equipped  vessel, 
one   hundred   and   sixty  feet    in  length;    beam 


,  T 


270 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


I 

i 

! 

( 

I 

! 


I 


twenty-four  feet;  depth  of  hold  six  feet  ten 
inches;  breadth  over  all  forty-two  feet  seven 
inches;  diameter  of  wheel  nineteen  feet; 
length  of  bucket  seven  feet ;  dip  one  foot  eight 
inches,  and  draft  three  feet  two  inches.  It  was 
a  staunch  and  elegantly  equipped  little  vessel; 
did  good  service  in  the  early  days,  making  three 
round  trips  each  week,  from  Milwaukee  to 
Astoria,  touching  at  Portland  and  Vancouver, 
then  the  only  stopping  places.  The  Whitcomb 
was  finally  sent  to  California,  made  over,  named 
Annie  Abernethy,  and  was  used  upon  the  Sacra- 
mento River  as  a  pleasure  and  passenger  boat. 

These  two  beginnings,  of  the  printers  art  and 
the  steamer,  are  all  the  more  interesting  when 
compared  with  the  richness  and  show  in  the  same 
fields  to-day.  The  palatial  ocean  traveling  steam- 
ers and  the  power  presses  and  papers,  scarcely 
second  to  any  in  editorial  and  news-gathering 
ability,  best  tell  the  wonderful  advance  from 
comparatively  nothing  at  that  time. 

The  taxable  property  of  Oregon  in  1893  was 
$168,088,905;  in  Washington  it  was  $283,110,032; 
in  Idaho,  $34,276,000.  The  manufactories  of  Ore- 
gon, in  1893,  turned  out  products  to  the  value  of 
$245,100,267,  and  Washington,  on  fisheries  alone, 
yielded  a  product  valued  at  $915,500.  There  has 
been  a  great  falling  off,  both  in  Oregon  and 
Washington,  in  this  source  of  wealth,  and  the 
eager  desire  to  make  money,  will  cause  the  anni-. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


271 


the 


hilation  of  this  great  traffic,  unless  there  is  better 
legal  protection.  Washington,  in  1893,  reported 
227  saw  mills,  and  300  shingle  mills  and  jt,  sash 
and  door  mills,  and  a  capital  invested  in  the 
lumber  trade  of  $25,000,000.  A  wonderful 
change  since  Dr.  Whitman  sawed  his  boards  by 
hand  as  late  as  1840. 

The  acres  of  forest  yet  undisturbed  in  Wash- 
ington are  put  down  at  23,588,512.  During 
President  Harrison's  term,  a  wooded  tract  in  the 
Cascade  Mountains,  thirty-five  by  forty  miles, 
including  Mount  Tacoma,  was  withdrawn  from 
entry,  and  it  is  expected  that  Congress  will 
reserve  it  for  a  National  Park.  The  statistics 
relating  to  wheat,  wool,  and  fruits  of  all  kinds 
fully  justifies  the  claim  made  by  Dr.  Whitman  to 
President  Tyler  and  Secretary  Webster — that 
"The  United  States  had  better  by  far  give  all 
New  England  for  the  cod-fisheries  of  New- 
foundland, than  to  sacrifice  Oregon." 

Reading  the  statistics  of  wealth  of  the  States 
comprising  the  original  territory  of  Oregon, 
their  fisheries,  their  farm  products,  their  lumber, 
their  mines,  yet  scarcely  begun  to  be  developed, 
one  wonders  at  the  blindness  and  ignorance  of 
our  Statesmen  fifty  or  more  years  ago,  who  came 
so  near  losing  the  whole  great  territory.  If 
Secretary  Daniel  Webster  could  have  stepped 
into  the  buildings  of  Washington,  Oregon  and 
Idaho  that  contained  the  wonderful  exhibit  at 


272 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


the  World's  Fair,  he  would  doubtless  have  lifted 
his  thoughts  with  profound  gratitude  that  Dr. 
Whitman  made  his  Winter  ride  and  saved  him 
from  making  the  blunder  of  all  the  century. 

If  old  Senator  McDuffie  who  averred  that, 
"The  wealth  of  the  Indies  could  not  pay  for  con- 
necting by  steam  the  Columbia  River  with  the 
States,"  could  now  take  his  place  in  a  palace  car 
of  some  one  of  the  four  great  Transcontinental 
Lines,  and  be  whirled  over  "  The  inaccessible 
mountains,  and  the  intervening  desert  wastes." 
he,  too,  might  be  willing  to  give  more  than  "  A 
pinch  of  snuff"  for  our  Pacific  possessions. 

The  original  boundaries  of  Oregon  contained 
over  300,000  square  miles,  which  included  all  the 
country  above  latitude  42°  and  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  Its  climate  is  mild  and 
delightful,  and  in  great  variety,  owing  to  the 
natural  divisions  of  great  ranges  of  mountains, 
and  the  warm  ocean  currents  which  impinge 
upon  its  shores,  with  a  rapid  current  from  the 
hot  seas  of  Asia.  This  causes  about  seventy  per 
cent,  of  the  winds  to  blow  from  the  southwest, 
bringing  the  warmth  of  the  tropics  to  a  land 
many  hundreds  of  miles  north  of  New  York  and 
Boston.  It  is  felt  even  at  Sitka,  nearly  2,000 
miles  further  north  than  Boston,  where  ice  can- 
not be  gathered  for  Summer  use;  and  whose  har- 
bor has  never  yet  been  obstructed  by  ice. 

The  typical  features  of  the  climate   of  west- 


est* 


DR.  DANIEL  K.  PEARSONS. 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


273 


ern  Oregon  are  the  rains  of  Winter  and  a  pro- 
tracted rainless  season  in  Summer.  In  other 
words,  there  are  two  distinct  seasons  in  Oregon 
— wet  and  dry.  Snows  in  Winter  and  rains  in 
Summer  are  exceptional.  In  eastern  Oregon 
the  clim£  e  more  nearly  approaches  conditions 
in  Eastern  States.  There  are  not  the  same  ex- 
tremes, but  there  are  the  same  features  of  Win- 
ter snow,  and,  in  places,  of  Summer  heat.  South- 
ern Oregon  is  more  like  eastern  than  western 
Oregon. 

In  eastern  Oregon  the  temperature  is  lower 
in  Winter  and  higher  in  Summer  than  in  west- 
ern. The  annual  rainfall  varies  from  7  to  20 
inches. 

The  Springs  in  Oregon  arc  delightful;  the 
Summer  very  pleasant.  They  are  practically 
rainless,  and  almost  always  without  great  ex- 
tremes of  heat. 

Fall  rains  usually  begin  in  October.  It  is  a 
noteworthy  feature  of  Oregon  Summers,  that 
nights  are  always  cool  and  refreshing. 

The  common  valley  s-^il  of  the  State  is  a  rich 
loam,  with  a  subsoil  of  clay.  Along  the  streams 
it  is  alluvial.  The  "beaverdam  lands"  of  this 
class  are  wonderfully  fertile.  This  soil  is  made 
through  the  work  of  the  beavers  who  dammed 
up  streams  and  created  lakes.  When  the  water 
was  drained  away,  the  detritus  covered  the 
ground.    The  soil  of  the  uplands  is  less   fertile 

18 


i 


1 


m 


!(« 


ri 


'HI 

m 


m 


:.:it. 


274 


HOW  MAKCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


than  that  of  the  bottoms  and  valleys,  and  is  a 
red,  brown  and  black  loam.  It  produces  an  ex- 
cellent quality  of  natural  grass,  and  under  care- 
ful cultivation,  produces  good  crops  of  grain, 
fruits  and  vegetables.  East  of  the  Cascade 
Mountains  the  soil  is  a  dark  loam  of  great 
depth,  composed  of  alluvial  deposits  and  decom- 
posed lava,  overlying  a  clay  subsoil.  The  con- 
stituents of  this  soil  adapt  the  land  peculiarly  to 
the  production  of  wheat. 

All  the  mineral  salts  which  are  necessary  to 
the  perfect  development  of  this  cereal  are  abun- 
dan(f  reproducing  themselves  constantly  as  the 
gradual  processes  of  decomposition  in  this  soil 
of  volcanic  origin  proceeds.  The  clods  are 
easily  broken  by  the  plow,  and  the  ground 
quickly  crumbles  on  exposure  to  the  atmosphere. 

In  northwestern  Oregon,  adjacent  to  the  Co- 
lumbia River,  although  the  dry  season  continues 
for  months,  this  light  porous  land  retains  and 
absorbs  enough  moisture  from  the  atmosphere, 
after  the  particles  have  been  partly  disinte- 
grated, to  insure  perfect  development  and  full 
harvests. 

In  southeastern  Oregon,  especially  in  the  vast 
areas  of  fertile  lands  in  Malheur  and  Snake 
River  Valleys,  the  soils  are  much  like  those  of  the 
northeastern  Oregon  region,  but  there  is  less 
moisture.  l!lxcept  in  a  very  small  portion  of 
this  region,  irrigation  is  necessary  to  successful 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVKD   OREGON. 


275 


ast 

ake 

the 

less 

of 

iful 


agriculture.     _  i.e  water  supply  is  abundant  and 
easily  applied. 

We  have  made  no  attempt  to  write  a  com- 
plete history  of  this  great  section  or  its  wealth, 
but  only  to  outline  such  facts  as  will  make  more 
impressive  the  value  to  the  wh  \c  people  of  the 
distinguished  services  of  the  pioneers  who  saved 
this  garden  spot  of  the  world  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States.  "The  Flag  of  Beauty  and 
Glory"  waves  over  no  fairer  Land,  or  over  no 
more  intelligent,  prosperous  and  happy  people- 
All  this  too  has  been  reached  within  the  mem- 
ory of  multitudes  of  living  actors;  in  fact  it  can 
be  said  the  glow  of  youth  is  yet  upon  the  brow 
of  the  young  States. 

The  lover  of  romance  in  reality  will  scarcely 
repress  a  sigh  of  regret,  that  with  Oregon  and 
Washington,  the  western  limit  of  pioneering  has 
been  reached,  after  the  strides  of  six  thousand 
yiears. 

The  circu.t  of  the  Globe  has  been  completed 
and  the  curtain  dropped  upon  the  farther  shores 
of  Oregon  and  Washington,  with  a  history  as 
profoundly  interesting*  and  dramatic  as  that 
written  on  any  section  of  the  world.  "The  Stars 
and  Stripes"  now  wave  from  Ocean  to  Ocean, 
and  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf.  It  is  a 
nation  of  grand  possibilities,  whose  history  would 
have  been  marred  for  all  time  to  come,  had  any 
foreign  power,  however  good  or  great,  held  pos- 


•I 


I 


'.I 


■tiff 

i 


*,'* 

ii 


^\;    ^  1 


'hill 


276 


HOW    MARCUS    WfllTMAN   SAVED   ORKGON. 


session  of  the  Pacific  States.  With  China  open 
to  the  World's  commerce;  with  the  young  giant 
Japan  inciting  all  the  Far  East  to  a  nev  life  and 
energy,  the  Pacific  States  of  the  Republic  stand 
in  the  very  gateway  of  the  World's  footsteps, 
and  commerce  and  wealth.  Only  when  meas- 
ured in  and  by  the  light  of  such  facts,  can  we 
fully  estimate  the  value  to  the  whole  people  of 
the  Nation  of  the  mid-winter  ride  of  our  hero, 
and  to  the  brave   pioneers  of  Oregon. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


1 1 


LIFE  ON   THE   GREAT     PLAINS    IN    PIONEER    DAYS. 


Nothing  better  shows  the  rapid  advance  of 
civilization  in  this  country,  than  the  fact  that 
multitudes  of  the  actors  of  those  eventful  years  of 
pioneer  life  in  Oregon  and  California,  yet  live  to 
see  and  enjoy  the  wonderful  transformation.  In 
fact,  the  pioneer,  most  of  all  others,  can,  in  its 
greatest  fulness,  take  in  and  grasp  the  luxuries 
of  modern  life. 

Taking  his  section  in  a  palace  car  in  luxurious 
ease,  he  travels  in  six  days  over  the  same  road 
which  he  wearily  traveled,  forty-five  and 
fifty  years  ago,  in  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to 
one  hundred  and  ninety  days.  The  fact  is  not 
without  interest  to  him  that  for  more  than  a 
thousand  miles  of  the  way  on  the  great  central 
routes,  he  can  throw  a  stone  from  the  car  window 
into  his  old  camping  grounds. 

The  old  plainsmen  were  not  bad  surveyors. 
They  may  not  have  been  advanced  in  trigonom- 


\ 
I 


■  { 


278 


now  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


etry  or  logarithms,  but  they  had  keen  eyes  and 
ripe  practical  judgment,  which  enabled  them  to 
master  the  situation.  The  trails  marked  and 
traveled  by  the  old  Missionaries,  nine  times  in 
every  ten,  proved  the  best.  Many  a  time  did  I, 
and  others,  by  taking  what  seemed  to  be  invit- 
ing "cut-offs,"  find  out  to  our  sorrow  that  the 
old  trailers  of  ten  years  before  us  had  been  wiser. 

I  make  this  a  chapter  of  personal  experience, 
not  for  any  personal  gratification,  but  because  of 
the  desire  to  make  it  real  and  true  in  every  par- 
ticular, and  because  the  data  and  incidents  of 
travel  of  the  old  Missionaries  are  meager  and 
incomplete. 

The  experiences  in  1836,  1843  and  1850,  were 
much  the  same,  save  and  except  that  in  1850  the 
way  was  more  plainly  marked  than  in  1836,  which 
then  was  nothing  more  than  an  Indian  trail,  and 
even  that  often  misleading.  Besides  that,  the 
pioneer  corps  had  made  passable  many  danger 
points,  and  had  even  left  ferries  over  the  most 
dangerous  rivers. 

From  1846  to  1856  were  ten  years  of  great 
activity  upon  the  frontier.  The  starting  points 
for  the  journey  across  the  Plains  were  many  and 
scattered,  from  where  Kansas  City  now  stands 
to  Fort  Leavenworth. 

The  time  of  which  I  write  was  1850.  Our  little 
company  of  seven  chosen  friends,  all  young  and 
inexperienced  in  any  form  of  wild  life,  resolved 


now    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED    OREGON. 


279 


1 


upon  the  journey,  and  began  preparations  in  1849 
and  were  ready  in  March,  1850,  to  take  a  steamer 
at  Cincinnati  for  Fort  Leavenworth.  We  had 
consulted  every  authority  within  reach  as  to  our 
outfit,  both  for  our  safety  and  comfort,  and  few 
voyagers  ever  started  upon  the  long  journey  who 
had  nearer  the  essential  things,  and  so  few  that 
proved  useless. 

In  one  thing  we  violated  the  recommenda- 
tions of  all  experienced  plainsmen,  and  that  was 
in  the  purchase  of  stock.  We  were  advised  to 
buy  only  mustangs  and  Mexican  mules,  but  chose 
to  buy  in  Ohio  the  largest  and  finest  mules  we 
could  find.  Our  wagons  were  selected  with  great 
care  as  to  every  piece  of  timber  and  steel  in  their 
make-up,  and  every  leather  and  buckle  in  the 
harness  was  scrutinized. 

Instead  of  a  trunk,  each  carried  clothes  and 
valuables  in  a  two  bushel  rubber  bag,  which 
could  be  made  water-tight  or  air-tight,  if  re- 
quired. Extra  shoes  were  fitted  to  the  feet  of 
each  mule  and  riding  horse  and  one  of  the  num- 
ber proved  to  be  an  expert  shocr.  The  supply 
of  provisions  was  made  a  careful  study,  and  we 
did  not  have  the  uncomfortable  experience  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  and  run  out  of  flour  be- 
fore the  journey  was  half  over. 

There  is  nothing  that  develops  the  manhood 
of  a  man,  or  the  lack  of  it,  more  quicky  than  life 
on  the  Plains.    There  is  many  a  man  surrounded 


280 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED    OREGON. 


by  the  sustaining  influence  of  the  home  and  of 
refined  society,  who  seems  very  much  of  s  man; 
and  yet  when  these  influences  are  removed,  he 
wilts  and  dwarfs.  I  have  seen  men  who  had 
been  religious  leaders  and  exemplary  in  their 
lives,  come  from  under  all  such  restraints,  and, 
within  two  months,  "swear  like  troopers." 

Our  little  company  was  fortunate  in  being 
made  up  of  a  manly  set  of  young  men,  who  re- 
solved to  stand  by  each  other  and  each  do  his 
part.  We  soon  joined  the  Mt.  Sterling  Mining 
Company,  led  by  Major  Fellows  and  Dr.  C.  P. 
Schlatcr,  from  Mt.  Sterling,  Mo.  They  were  an 
excellent  set  of  men  and  our  company  was  then 
large  enough  for  protection  from  any  danger  in 
the  Indian  country,  and  we  kept  together  with- 
out a  jar  of  any  kind. 

In  the  year  1850,  the  Spring  upon  the  frontier 
was  backward.  The  grass,  a  necessity  for  the 
campaigner  upon  the  plains,  was  too  slow  for  us, 
so  we  bought  an  old  Government  wagon,  in  ad- 
dition to  our  regular  wagons,  filled  it  with  corn, 
and  upon  May  ist,  struck  out  through  Kansas. 
It  was  then  unsettled  by  white  people. 

On  the  5th  day  of  May,  we  woke  up  to  find 
the  earth  enveloped  in  five  inches  of  snow,  and 
matters  looked  discouraging,  but  the  sun  soon 
shone  out  and  the  snow  disappeared  and  we  be- 
gan to  enter  into  the  spirit  and  enjoyment  of  the 
wild  life  before  us. 


UJ 


tu 


ai 


O 
O 


UJ 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


281 


The  Indians  were  plentiful  and  visited  us  fre- 
quently, but  they  were  all  friendly  that  year  with 
the  whites  throughout  the  border.  A  war  party 
of  the  Cheyenne  Indians  visited  us  on  their  way 
to  fight  their  cnetny,  the  Pawnees.  They  were, 
physically,  the  finest  body  of  men  I  ever  saw. 
We  treated  them  hospitably  and  they  would  have 
given  up  their  fight  and  gone  with  us  on  a  grand 
buffalo  hunt,  had  we  consented.  The  Chief  would 
hardly  take  no  ^or  an  answer. 

One  of  the  great  comforts  of  the  plains  trav- 
eling in  those  days,  was  order  and  system.  Each 
man  knew  his  duty  each  day  and  each  night. 
One  day  a  man  would  drive;  another  he  would 
cook;  another  he  would  ride  on  horseback. 
When  we  reached  the  more  dangerous  Indian 
country,  our  camp  was  arranged  for  defense  in 
case  of  an  attack,  but  we  always  left  our  mules 
picketed  out  to  grass  all  night,  and  never  left 
them  without  a  guard. 

About  the  most  trying  labor  of  that  journey 
was  picket  duty  over  the  mules  at  night,  especi- 
ally when  the  grass  was  a  long  distance  from  the 
camp,  as  it  sometimes  was.  After  a  long  day's 
iravel  it  was  a  lonesome,  tiresome  task  to  keep 
up  all  night,  or  even  half  of  it.  The  animals 
were  tethered  with  a  rope  eighteen  feet  long 
buckled  to  the  fore  leg,  and  the  other  end  at- 
tached to  an  iron  pin  twelve  to  eighteen  inches 
long,  securely  driven  into  the  ground.     As  the 


ill 


282 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


If, 

h 

1 

•1 

H 

i 

H 

i 

'mm 

V  ■  r 

IhI 

1 

11 

animals  fed  they  were  moved  so  as  to  keep  them 
upon  the  best  pasture.  In  spite  of  the  best  care 
they  would  occasionally  cross  and  the  mischief 
would  be  to  pay,  unless  promptly  relieved. 

Our  greatest  fear  was  from  the  danger  of  a 
stampede,  either  from  Indians  or  from  wild  ani- 
mals. The  Indian  regards  it  as  a  great  accom- 
plishment to  steal  a  horse  from  a  white  man. 
One  day  a  well-dressed  and  very  polite  Indian 
came  into  camp  where  we  were  laying  by  for 
a  rest.  He  could  talk  broken  English  and 
mapped  out  the  country  in  the  sand  over  the 
route  we  were  to  tJ-avel — told  us  all  about  good 
water  and  plenty  of  grass.  He  informed  us  that 
for  some  days  we  would  go  through  the  good 
Indian's  country,  but  then  we  came  to  the 
mountains;  a.id  then  he  began  to  paw  the  air 
with  his  arms  and  snap  an  imaginary  whip  and 
shout,  "Gee  Buck  —  wo  haw,  damn  ye!"  Then 
says  our  good  Indian,  "  Look  out  for  boss 
thieves."  Then  he  got  down  in  the  grass  and 
showed  us  how  the  Indian  would  wiggle  along 
in  the  grass  until  he  found  the  picket  pin  and 
lead  his  horse  out  so  blowly  that  the  guard  would 
not  notice  the  change,  until  he  was  outside  the 
line,  when  he  would  mount  and  ride  away. 

T-iat  very  night  two  of  the  best  horses  of  the 
Mt.  Sterling  Mining  Company  were  stolen  in 
just  that  way,  and  to  make  the  act  more  grievous, 
they  were  picketed  so  near   to  the  tents  as  to 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


283 


the 


seem  to  the  guards  to  be  perfectly  safe.  We 
may  have  misjudged  our  "good  Indian"  who 
came  into  camp,  but  we  have  always  believed 
that  he  was  there  to  see  whether  there  were  any 
horses  worth  stealing,  and  then  did  the  steal- 
ing himself. 

We  can  bear  testimony  also,  that  he  was  a 
good  geographer.  His  map  made  in  the  sand 
and  transferred  to  paper  was  perfect,  and  when 
we  came  to  the  mountains,  his  "  Gee  Buck,  wo 
haw,  damn  ye!"  was  heard  all  up  and  down  that 
mountain.  The  Indian  had  evidently  been  there 
and  knew  what  he  was  saying.  They  gave  us 
but  little  trouble  except  to  watch  our  live  stock, 
as  the  Indian  never  takes  equal  chances.  He 
wants  always  ihree  chances  to  one,  in  his  favor. 
To  show  you  are  afraid,  is  to  lose  the  contest 
with  an  Indian.  I  have  many  times,  by  showing 
a  brave  front,  saved  my  scalp. 

Upon  one  occasion  when  I  had  several  loose 
mules  leading,  I  allowed  myself  unthinkingly  to 
lag  for  two  miles  behind  the  company  through 
a  dangerous  district.  I  was  hurrying  to  amend 
the  wrong  by  a  fast  trot,  when  upon  a  turn  in 
the  road  a  vicious  looking  Indian,  with  his  bow 
half  bent  and  an  arrow  on  the  string,  stepped 
from  behind  a  sage  bush  to  the  middle  of  the 
road  and  signaled  me  to  stop  when  twenty  feet 
away. 

I  was  unarmed  and  made  up   my   mind   at 


'.     V 


I  ■  ' 


4 


284 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


n 


I 


once  to  show  no  fear.  Upon  coming  within 
six  or  eight  feet  of  him,  I  drove  the  spurs  into 
my  horse  and  gave  such  a  yell  that  the  Indian 
had  all  he  could  do  to  dodge  my  horse's  feet. 
He  was  evidently  astonished  and  thought,  from 
the  boldness  of  the  move,  that  I  had  others  near 
by.  My  horse  and  mules  went  on  a  dead  run 
and  I  expected,  as  I  leaned  forward,  every 
moment  to  feel  his  arrow. 

I  glanced  back  when  fifty  yards  away  and  he 
was  anxiously  looking  back  to  see  who  else  was 
coming  and  I  was  out  of  his  reach  before  he 
had  made  up  his  mind.  I  was  never  worse 
frightened. 

Upon  another  occasion  I  bluffed  an  Indian 
just  as  effectively.  With  two  companions  I  went 
to  a  Sioux  village  to  buy  a  pair  of  moccasins. 
They  were  at  peace  and  we  felt  no  danger. 
Most  of  the  men  were  absent  from  the  village, 
leaving  only  a  small  guard.  I  got  separated 
from  my  companions,  but  found  an  Indian  mak- 
ing moccasins,  and  I  stood  in  the  door  and 
pointed  to  a  new  pair  about  the  size  I  wanted, 
that  hung  on  the  ridge  pole,  and  showed  him  a 
pair  of  handsome  suspenders  that  I  would  give 
him  for  them.  He  assented  by  a  nod  and  a 
grunt,  came  to  the  door,  took  the  suspenders 
and  hung  them  up,  deliberately  sat  down  on  the 
floor  and  took  off  a  dirty  old  pair  he  was  wear- 
ing and  threw  them  to  me.     I  immediately  threw 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


285 


them  back,  and  stepping  into  the  tepee,  caught 
hold  of  the  moccasins  I  had  bought,  bat  by  a 
quick  motion  he  snatched  them  from  me. 

I  then  caught  hold  of  the  suspenders  and 
bounded  out  of  the  door.  When  fifty  feet  away 
I  looked  back  and  he  had  just  emerged  from  his 
tepee  and  began  loading  his  rifle.  I  had  emptied 
both  barrels  of  my  shot-gun  at  a  plover  just  be- 
fore reaching  the  village  and  my  gun  was  unfor- 
tunately unloaded.  It  gave  us  equal  chances. 
I  stopped  still,  threw  my  gun  from  the  strap  and 
began  loading.  In  those  days  I  was  something 
of  an  expert  and  before  the  Indian  withdrew  his 
ramrod,  I  was  putting  caps  on  both  barrels  and 
he  bounded  inside  his  wigwam,  and  I  lost  no 
time  in  putting  a  tepee  between  us,  and  finding 
my  friends,  when  we  hastily  took  leave. 

Our  company  took  great  comfort  and  pride 
in  our  big  American  mules,  trained  in  civilized 
Ohio.  A  pair  of  the  largest,  the  wheelers  in  the 
six-mule  team,  were  as  good  as  setter  dogs  at 
night.  They  neither  liked  Indians,  wolves  nor 
grizzlies;  and  their  scent  was  so  keen  they  could 
smell  their  enemies  two  hundred  yards  away, 
unless  the  wind  was  too  strong. 

When  on  guard,  and  in  a  lonesome,  danger- 
ous place,  we  generally  kept  close  to  our  long- 
eared  friends,  and  when  they  stopped  eating  and 
raised  their  heads  and  pointed  those  ponderous 
ears  in  any  direction,  we  would  drop  in  the  grass 


r'1 


286 


now    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


and  hold  ourselves  ready  for  any  emer- 
gency. They  would  never  resume  their  feeding 
until  assured  that  the  danger  had  passed. 

And  then  what  faithful  fellows  to  pull!  At  a 
word  they  would  plant  their  feet  on  a  mountain 
side  and  never  allow  the  wagon  to  give  back  a 
single  foot,  no  matter  how  precipitous;  and  again 
at  the  word,  they  would  pull  with  the  precision 
of  a  machine. 

The  off-leader,  "Manda"  was  the  handsom- 
est mule  ever  harnessea  As  everybody  re- 
marked, "She  was  as  beautiful  as  a  picture." 
She  would  pull  and  stand  and  hold  the  wagon  as 
obedient  to  command  as  an  animal  could  be,  but 
she  was  by  nature  wild  and  vicious.  She  was  the 
worst  kicker  I  ever  saw.  She  allowed  herself  to 
be  shod,  seeming  to  understand  that  this  was  a 
necessity.  But  no  man  ever  succeeded  in  riding 
her.  She  beat  the  trick  mules  in  any  circus  in 
jumping  and  kicking. 

One  night  we  had  a  stampede,  and  one  of 
the  flying  picket  pins  struck  the  mule  between 
the  bones  of  the  hind  leg,  cutting  a  deep  gash, 
four  inches  or  more  long;  the  swelling  of  the  limb 
causing  the  wound  to  gape  open  fully  two 
inches.  She  did  not  attempt  to  bear  her  weight 
upon  the  limb,  barely  touching  it  to  the  ground. 
The  flies  were  very  bad,  and  knowing  the  ani- 
mal, and  while  prizing  her  so  highly,  we  were 
all  convinced  that  wc  must  leave  her.     The  train 


now    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OKEOON. 


287 


pulled  out.  It  was  my  duty  that  morning  to 
bring  on  the  loose  stock,  and  see  that  nothuig  of 
value  was  overlooked  in  camp.  I  was  ready  to 
leave,  when  I  went  up  to  the  mule  that  had  come 
with  us  all  the  way  from  home,  nearly  three  thou- 
sand miles,  and  had  been  a  faithful  servant,  and 
began  petting  her,  expressing  my  pity  and  sorrow 
that  we  had  to  leave  her  here  for  the  Indians 
and  the  wolves.  As  I  rubbed  her  head  and 
talked  to  her,  the  poor  dumb  brute  seemed  to 
understand  every  word  said. 

Never  before  in  all  the  long  journey  had  the 
famous  six  mule  team  gone  out  without  Manda 
prancing  as  off  leader.  She  rubbed  me  with  her 
nose  and  laid  it  upon  my  shoulder,  and  seemed 
to  beg  as  eloquently  as  a  dum'  /  beast  can,  "  Don't 
leave  me  behind."  With  it  all,  there  was  a 
kindly  look  in  her  eye,  I  never  before  had  seen. 
I  stood  stroking  her  head  for  some  time,  then  I 
patted  her  neck  and  walked  a  little  back,  but 
constantly  on  guard.  It  was  then  the  animal 
turned  her  head  and  looked  at  me,  and  at  the 
same  time  held  up  the  wounded  leg.  My  friend 
Moore,  who  had  staid  back  to  assist,  was  a  little 
distance  off,  and  I  called  him. 

As  he  came  up,  I  said  to  him,  "  This  mule 
has  had  a  change  of  heart."  He  put  a  bridle 
upon  her  so  that  he  could  hold  up  her  head,  and 
rubbing  her  side,  I  finally  ventured  to  take  hold 
gf  the  wounded  leg,     I  nibbed  it  and  fondled  it 


:•••'' 


288 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVRD  OREGON. 


without  her  showing  any  symptom  of  resent- 
ment. 

I  got  out  instruments,  sewed  the  wound  up, 
and  sewed  bandages  tight  about  the  leg,  made  a 
capital  dressing  and  we  started,  leading  Manda. 
She  soon  began  to  bear  weight  upon  the  wounded 
limb,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  keeping  up  with 
the  train.  When  the  bandages  would  get  mis- 
placed, one  could  get  down  in  the  road  with  no 
one  to  assist,  and  adjust  them.  We  took  Manda 
all  the  way,  and  no  handsomer  animal  ever 
journeyed  across  the  plains.  She  was  never 
known  to  kick  afterward. 

People  call  it  "instinct  in  animals,"  but  the 
more  men  know  and  study  dumb  life,  the  more 
they  are  impressed  with  their  reasoning  intelli- 
gence. Dr.  Whitman's  mule,  finding  camp  in  the 
blinding  snow  storm  on  the  mountains,  when  the 
shrewd  guide  was  hopelessly  lost;  my  old  horse 
leading  me  and  my  friei.a  in  safety  through  the 
Mississippi  River  back  water  in  the  great  forest 
of  Arkansas,  as  well  as  this,  which  I  have  told 
without  an  embellishment,  all  teach  impressively 
the  duty  of  kindness  that  we  owe  to  our  dumb 
friends. 

In  Mrs.  Whitman's  diary  we  frequently  find 
allusion  to  her  faithful  pony,  and  her  sympathy 
with  him  when  the  grass  is  scarce  and  the  work 
iiard,  is  but  an  evidence  of  true  nobility  in  the 
woman.     In  a  long  journey  like  the  one  made 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON, 


289 


find 

lathy 

rork 

the 

lade 


from  Ohio  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  it  is  wonderful 
what  an  affection  grows  up  between  man  and  his 
dumb  helpers.  And  there  is  no  mistaking  the 
fact  that  animals  appreciate  and  recijirocnte  such 
kindness.     Even  our  dog  was  no  exception. 

As  I  have  started  in  to  introduce  my  dumb 
associates,  it  would  be  a  mistake,  especially  for 
my  boy  readers,  to  omit  Rover.  He  was  a  young 
dog  when  we  started,  but  he  was  a  dog  of  thor- 
ough education  and  large  experience  before  he 
reached  the  end  of  his  journey.  He  was  no  dog 
with  a  long  pedigree  of  illustrious  ancestors,  but 
was  a  mixed  St.  ^3ernard  and  Newfoundland,  and 
grew  up  large,  stately  and  dignified.  He  was 
petted,  but  never  spoiled.  When  he  was  tired 
and  wanted  to  ride,  he  knew  how  to  tell  the  fact 
and  was  never  told  that  he  was  nothing  but  a 
dog. 

He  was  no  shirk  as  a  walker,  but  the  hot  sal- 
eratus  dust  and  sand  wore  out  his  feet.  We  took 
the  fresh  skin  of  an  antelope  and  made  boots  for 
him, but  when  no  one  was  looking  at  him,  he  would 
gnaw  them  off.  When  the  company  separated 
after  reaching  the  Coast,  Rover,  by  unanimous  con- 
sent, went  with  his  favorite  master,  J.S.N  iswander, 
now  a  grey  haired  honored  citizen  of  Gilroy,  Cal. 
A  few  years  ago  I  visited  Niswander  and  Dr.  J. 
Doan  who,  with  myself,  are  the  only  living  sur- 
vivors of  our  company,  and  he  gave  me  the  his- 
tory of  Rover  after  I  left  for  Oregon. 

19 


m 


1 1 


290 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


Niswander  was  a  famous  grizzly  bear  hunter, 
and  with  Rover  as  a  companion,  he  made  jour- 
neys prjspccting  for  gold,  and  hunting,  long 
distances  from  civilization.  When  night  came, 
the  pack  mule  was  picketed  near  by  and  a  big 
fire  built,  with  plenty  of  wood  to  keep  It  replen- 
ished during  the  night.  Rover  laid  himself 
against  his  master's  feet,  and  in  case  of  danger, 
he  would  always  waken  him  with  a  low  growl 
close  to  his  ear,  and  when  this  was  done,  he 
would  lope  off  in  the  dark  and  find  out  what 
it  was,  while  Niswander  held  his  gun  and  re- 
volver ready  for  use.  If  the  dog  came  back  and 
lay  down,  he  knew  at  once  it  was  a  false  alarm 
and  dropped  to  sleep  in  perfect  security. 

At  one  time  he  brought  among  his  provisions 
a  small  firkin  of  butter,  a  great  luxury  at  that 
time.  He  took  the  firkin  and  set  it  in  the  shade 
of  a  great  red-wood,  tumbled  off  the  rest  of  his 
goods,  picketed  his  mule,  and  went  off  prospect- 
ing for  gold,  telling  Rover  to  take  care  of  the 
things  until  he  returned.  He  was  gone  all  day 
and  returned  late  in  the  evening,  and  looking 
around  could  not  see  his  firkin  of  butter.  He 
told  me  he  turned  to  the  old  dog  and  said, 
"Rover,  I  never  knew  you  to  do  such  a  trick 
before  and  I  am  ashamed  of  you."  The  old 
fellow  only  hung  his  head  upon  being  scolded. 
But  soon  after  Mr.  N.  noticed  a  suspicious  pile 
of  leaves  about  the  roots  of  the  tree,  and  wh°n 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


291 


»ect- 
the 
day 
Icing 

He 
said, 
rick 

old 
ded. 

pile 


he  had  turned  them  aside  he  found  his  firkin  of 
butter  untouched. 

The  high  wind  which  had  arisen,  had  blown 
the  paper  cover  from  the  butter  and  the  dog 
knew  it  ought  to  be  covered,  and  with  his  feet 
and  nose  had  gathered  the  leaves  for  more  than 
a  rod  around  and  covered  it  up, 

The  Indians  finally  poisoned  the  old  dog  for 
the  purpose  of  robbing  his  master.  Said  he, 
"When  Rover  died,  I  shed  more  tears  than  I  had 
shed  for  years." 

While  reading,  as  I  have,  Mrs.  Whitman's 
daily  diary  of  her  journey  in  1836,  I  am  most 
astonished  at  the  lack  of  all  complaints  and  mur- 
murings.  I  know  so  well  the  perils  and  discom- 
forts she  met  on  the  way  and  see  her  every  day, 
cheerful  and  smiling  and  happy,  and  filled  with 
thankfulness  for  blessings  received,  that  she 
seems  for  the  very  absence  of  any  repining,  to 
be  a  woman  of  the  most  exalted  character. 

I  have  traveled  for  days  and  weeks  through 
saleratus  dust  that  made  lips,  face  and  eyes  tor- 
mentingly  sore,  while  the  throat  and  air  tubes 
seemed  to  be  raw.  She  barely  mentions  them. 
I  have  camped  many  a  time,  as  she  doubtless 
did,  where  the  water  was  poisonous  with  alkali, 
and  unfit  for  man  or  beast.  I  have  been  stung 
by  buffalo  flies  until  the  sting  of  a  Jersey  mos- 
quito would  be  a  positive  luxury.  She  barely 
mentions  the  pests.     She  does  once  mildly  say. 


II-    '' 


1,  -       >T 

i!-  i!  i ' 

1;   ;'  ■■ 


292 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


"The  mosquitos  were  so  thick  we  could  hardly 
breathe,"  and  that  "the  fleas  covered  all  our 
garments"  and  made  life  a  burden  until  she 
could  get  clear  of  them. 

Then  there  were  snakes.  As  far  as  1  know 
she  never  once  complained  of  snakes.  This 
makes  it  all  the  more  necessary  in  giving  a  true 
picture  of  pioneering  upon  the  plains,  to 
give  a  real  experience.  There  is  nothing 
more  hateful  than  a  snake.  We  were  intro- 
duced to  the  prairie  rattler  very  early  in  the 
journey  and  some  had  sport  over  it.  We  all 
wore  high,  rattlesnake  boots;  they  were  heavy 
and  hard  on  the  feet  that  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  softer  covering. 

One  of  our  gallant  boys  had  received  a  present 
of  a  pair  of  beautiful  embroidered  slippers  from 
a  loved  friend,  and  after  supper  he  threw  off 
those  high  snake  boots  and  put  on  his  slippers. 
Just  then  he  was  reminded  that  it  was  his  duty 
that  night  to  assist  in  picketing  the  mules  in 
fresh  pasture.  He  got  hold  of  two  lariats  and 
started  off  singing,  "The  Girl  I  Left  Behind 
Me."  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  off,  he 
heard  that  ominous  rattle  near  by  and  he 
dropped  those  lariats  and  came  into  camp 
at  a  speed  that  elicited  cheers  from  the  entire 
crowd. 

Early  in  the  journey  an  old  Indian  told  me 
bow  to  keep  the  snakes  from  our  beds,  and  that 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


203 


was  to  get  a  lariat  made  from  the  hair  of  a  buf- 
falo's neck  and  lay  it  entirely  around  the  bed.  I 
got  the  lariat  and  seldom  went  to  sleep  without 
being  inside  of  its  coil.  It  is  a  fact  that  a  snake 
will  not  willingly  crawl  over  such  a  rope.  The 
sharp  prickly  bristles  are  either  uncomfortable 
to  them,  or  they  expect  there  is  danger. 

One  night  of  horrors  never  to  be  forgotten 
was  when  I  did  not  have  my  Indian  lariat.  Who 
of  my  readers  ever  had  a  rattlesnake  attempt  to 
make  a  nest  in  his  hair  ?  The  story  may  hardly 
be  v/orth  telling,  but  I  will  relate  it  just  as  it 
occurred. 

We  had  camped  on  tbeSt.  Mary's  River  and 
had  gone  four  miles  off  the  road  to  find  good 
grazing  for  our  animals.  Supper  was  over,  our 
bugler  had  sounded  his  last  note,  and  we  were 
preparing  for  bed  when  a  man  came  in  from  a 
camp  a  mile  off,  and  reported  that  they  had 
found  a  man  on  a  small  island,  who  was  very 
sick  and  they  wanted  a  doctor. 

Dr.  Schlater,  of  the  Mt.  Sterling  Mining  Com- 
pany, at  once  got  ready  and  went  with  him. 
Dr.  Schlater  was  one  of  the  grand  specimens  of 
manhood.  He  worked  with  the  sick  man  all 
night  and  at  daylight  came  down  and  asked  me 
to  go  up  with  him.  While  we  were  bathing  him, 
the  company  of  Michigan  packers,  who  had 
found  the  stranger,  moved  off,  and  left  us  alone 
with  the  sick  man,  who  was  delirious  and  could 
give  no  account  of  himself. 


W 


k 


I 


294 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


We  found  from  papers  in  his  pockets  that  his 
name  was  West  Williams,  of  Bloomington,  Iowa, 
and  he  c?rried  a  card  from  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  of 
that  place.  We  made  him  as  comfortable  as 
possible  and  went  back  to  our  camp  and  reported 
his  condition.  We  found  the  company  all  ready 
to  move  out,  onl>  waiting  for  us.  The  man  was 
too  sick  to  travel  and  it  would  not  do  to  let  him 
remain  there  alone,  and  it  was  decided  that  Dr. 
S.  and  I  should  remain  with  him  and  try  and 
find  his  friends  or  hire  some  person  to  take  care 
of  him,  and  then,  by  forced  marches,  we  could  fol- 
low on  and  catch  the  company. 

We  raised  a  purse  of  one  hundred  dollars  and 
with  such  medicines  as  we  needed  and  other  sup- 
plies, also  kept  back  a  light  spring  wagon,  and 
brought  the  sick  man  to  our  camp.  I  suggested 
to  the  Doctor  that  he  ride  over  to  the  road  and 
put  up  some  written  notices,  giving  the  man's 
name,  etc.  He  wrote  out  several  and  posted 
them  on  the  trees  where  they  would  attract  at- 
tention from  passers.  While  he  was  doing  this, 
a  man  with  an  ox-team  came  along  and  proved 
to  be  an  old  friend  of  the  sick  man  right  from 
the  same  locality.  His  name  Mras  Van  S.  Israel. 
He  at  once  came  with  he  Doctor  and  took 
charge  of  Williams,  greatly  to  our  relief. 

While  the  Doctor  was  up  on  the  road  he  was 
called  to  prescribe  for  another  sick  man  by  the 
name  of  Mahan,  from  Missouri.    Learning  where 


HOW    MARCUS    WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


29- 


red 


we  were  located,  the  Mahans  moved  down  to  our 
camp.  The  sick  man  was  accompanied  by  his 
brother,  and  they  had  a  spendid  outfit.  We 
concluded  to  give  the  entire  day  to  the  sick  man 
and  ride  across  the  small  desert  just  ahead  dur- 
ing the  night.  A  tent  was  erected  for  Mahan, 
and  he  walked  in  and  laid  down. 

An  hour  or  so  later,  I  went  to  the  tent  door 
and  looking  in  saw  the  man  lying  dead.  I 
spoke  to  his  brother,  who  went  into  the  tent  con- 
vulsed with  grief.  I  had  scarcely  reached  my  tent 
before  I  heard  a  piercing  scream  and  rushed 
back,  and  upon  opening  the  tent  flap  was  horri- 
fied to  behold  the  largest  rattle-snake  I  had  ever 
seen,  coiled  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  dead 
body  and  the  living  brother  crowding  as  far  away 
as  possible  on  the  other  side,  to  be  out  of  his 
reach. 

As  soon  as  I  appeared,  the  snake  uncoiled 
and  slipped  under  the  edge  of  the  tent.  I  caught 
up  a  green  cottonwood  stick  and  ran  around  and 
he  at  once  coiled  for  a  fight.  I  let  him  strike  the 
stick.  After  striking  each  time  he  would  try  to  re- 
treat, but  a  gentle  tap  with  the  stick  would  arouse 
his  anger  and  he  would  coil  and  strike  again.  At 
first  a  full  drop  of  the  yellow  fluid  appeared 
upon  the  stick.  This  gradually  diminished,  and 
with  it  the  courage  of  the  reptile,  which  seemed 
to  lose  all  fighting  propensity.     I  then  killed  him. 

Just  before  sunset  we  were  ready  to  leave  our 


I 


HI 


296 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


sad  associates,  aid  we  rode  down  to  the  river  to 
give  our  mules  a  drin!:.  The  St.  Mary  is  a 
deep  stream  running  through  a  level  stretch 
with  no  banks.  The  mules  had  often  been  caved 
into  the  deep  water  and  learned  to  get  down  on 
their  knees  to  drink.  For  fear  of  an  accident,  I 
got  off  and  allowed  my  mule  to  kneel  and  drink. 
As  he  got  upon  his  feet  I  swung  into  the  saddle 
and  started  on.  I  had  scarcely  got  firmly 
seated  when,  right  under  the  mule,  a  rattler  sang 
out.  My  double-barrel  gun  was  hanging  from 
my  shoulder,  muzzle  down.  As  quick  as  a  flash 
I  slipped  my  arm  through  the  strap,  cocked  the 
gun  at  the  same  time,  and  the  mule  shying, 
brought  his  snakeship  in  range,  and  just  3s  he 
was  in  the  act  of  striking,  I  shot  him  dead.  The 
only  good  thing  about  the  rattler  is  that  he 
always  gives  the  alarm  before  striking. 

It  was  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
when  we  got  through  the  desert  and  reached  a 
cluster  of  trees,  and  resolved  to  stop  and  take  a 
little  sleep,  and  give  our  mules  the  feed  of  grass 
we  hr\d  tied  behind  our  saddles.  We  found  a 
fallen  fee  and  tied  our  animals  to  the  boughs 
and  fed  them.  A  small  company  of  packers 
were  there  asleep  with  their  heads  toward  the 
fallen  tree.  We  passed  them  to  near  the  butt  of 
the  tree,  threw  aside  some  rotten  chunks,  spread 
a  blanket,  and  each  rolled  up  in  another,  lay 
down  to  rest.    My  snake-lariat  was  with  the  wa- 


li 


tt, 


u 


o  — 


tu 


u. 


tu 


</) 


ISS 


rhs 


oi 
lad 
lay 

ra- 


4> 


Q  U 


.  E 
z  :t: 

Z    c 


<:  X 


(b. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHli..iAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


207 


gon,  but  I  was  too  tired  to  think  much  of  it. 
The  Doctor  being  up  all  the  night  before,  was 
asleep  in  two  minutes.  I  was  dozing  off,  with 
rattlesnakes  and  all  the  horrors  of  the  past  day 
running  through  my  mind,  when  I  was  suddenly 
awakened  by  something  pulling  and  working  in 
my  long,  bushy  hair.  Barbers  were  not  plentiful 
on  the  plains,  and,  besides,  the  plainsmen  wear 
long  hair  as  a  protection.  I  suppose  it  was  only 
a  few  minutes  of  suspense,  and  yet  it  seemed  an 
hour,  before  I  became  wide  awake,  and  reached 
at  once  the  conclusion  that  I  had  poked  my  head 
near  the  log  where  his  snakeship  was  sleeping, 
and  the  evening  being  cool,  he  was  trying  to 
secure  warmer  quarters.  I  knew  it  would  not  do 
to  move  my  head.  I  quietly  slipped  my  right 
arm  from  the  blanket,  and  slowly  moved  my  hand 
within  six  inches  of  my  head.  I  felt  the  raking 
of  a  harder  mrxterial,  which  seemed  like  a  fang 
scraping  the  scalp.  This  made  me  almost 
frantic.  Suddenly,  I  grasped  the  offender  by  the 
head,  jerking  hair  and  all,  and,  jumping  to 
my  feet,  yelled,  so  that  every  packer  bounced  to 
his  feet,  and  seized  his  gun,  thinking  we  were 
attacked  by  Indians.  This  is  a  round-about  way 
to  tell  a  snake  story,  but  all  the  facts  had  to  be 
recited  to  reveal  the  real  conditions. 

It  was  forty-five  years  ago,  and  the  sensations 
of  the  time  are  vivid  to  this  day  ;  and  it  doesn't 
even  matter  that  the  offender  was  not  a  rattler, 


208 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


but  only  an  honest,  little,  cold-footed  tree-toad, 
trying  to  get  warmed  up.  But  he  frightened  me 
am  badly  as  the  biggest  rattler  on  the  St.  Mary's 
could,  and  I  helped  him  to  make  a  hop  that  beat 
the  record  of  Mark  Twain's  jumping-frog  in  his 
best  days. 

But  life  on  the  plains  was  not  a  continued 
succession  of  discomforts.  The  dyspeptic  could 
well  afford  to  make  such  a  journey  to  gain  the 
appetite  and  the  good  digestion.  The  absence 
of  annoying  insect  life  during  the  night,  and  the 
pure,  invigorating  air,  makes  sleep  refreshing 
and  health-giving.  For  a  month  at  a  time  we 
have  lain  down  to  sleep,  looking  up  at  the  stars, 
without  the  fear  of  catching  cold,  or  feeling  a 
drop  of  dew.  There  are  long  dreary  reaches  of 
plains  to  pass  that  are  wearisome  to  th'e  eye  and 
the  body,  but  the  mountain  scenery  is  nowhere 
more  picturesquely  beautiful. 

At  that  time  the  sportsman  could  have  a  sur- 
feit in  all  kinds  of  game,  by  branching  off  from 
the  lines  of  travel  and  taking  the  chancesof  losing 
his  scalp.  Herds  of  antelope  were  seen  every 
day  feeding  in  the  valleys,  while  farther  away 
there  were  buffalo  by  the  hundred  thousand. 
The  great  butchery  of  these  noble  animals  had 
then  but  fairly  begun.  To-day,  there  still  live 
but  three  small  herds.  Our  company  did  not 
call  it  sport  to  kill  buffalo  for  amusement.  It  was 
not  sport,  but  butchery.     A  man  could  ride  up 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


2U9 


by  the  side  of  his  victim  and  kill  him  with  a 
pistol. 

It  was  among  our  rules  to  allow  no  team  ani- 
mal to  be  used  in  the  chase.  But  I  forgot  myself 
once  and  violated  the  rule.  We  were  resting 
that  day  in  camp.  In  the  distance  I  saw  two 
hunters  after  a  huge  buffalo  bull,  coming  toward 
our  camp.  I  saw  by  the  direction  that  one  could 
ride  around  the  spur  of  a  high  hill  about  a  mile  dis- 
tant, and  intercept  him.  We  had  as  a  saddle 
horse  of  one  team,  an  old  clay  back,  which  was 
one  of  the  most  solemn  horses  I  have  ever 
seen.  His  beauty  was  in  his  great  strength  and 
his  long  mane  and  tail.  But  he  carried  his  head 
on  a  straight  level  with  his  back  and  never  was 
known  to  put  on  any  airs.  He  stood  picketed 
handy,  and  seizing  a  bridle  and  my  gun  I 
mounted  without  a  saddle  and  urged  the  old 
horse  into  a  lope. 

As  I  turned  the  spur  of  the  hill,  the  bull  came 
meeting  me  fifty  yards  away.  He  was  a  mon- 
ster; his  tongue  protruded,  and  he  was  frothing  at 
the  mouth  from  his  long  run.  He  showed  no 
signs  of  turning  from  his  road  because  of  my 
appearance.  Just  then,  when  not  more  than 
thirty  yards  away,  my  old  horse  saw  lim  and 
turned  so  quickly  as  to  nearly  unseat  me.  He 
threw  up  his  head  until  that  great  mane  of  his 
enveloped  me;  and  he  broke  for  the  camp  at  a 
gait  no  one  ever  dreamed  he  possessed.     I  did 


800 


now   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


no  shooting,  but  I  did  the  fastest  riding  I  ever 
indulged  in  before  or  since.  It  is  a  fact,  that  a 
mad  buffalo,  plunging  toward  you  is  only  pleas- 
ant when  you  can  get  out  of  his  way. 

The  slaughter  and  annihilation  of  the  buffalo 
is  the  most  atrocious  act  ever  classed  under  the 
head  of  sport.  A  few  years  ago,  while  travel- 
ing over  the  Great  Northern  Railway,  I  saw  at 
different  stations  ricks  of  bones  from  a  quarter 
to  a  third  of  a  mile  long,  piled  up  as  high  as  the  tops 
of  the  cars,  awaiting  shipment.  I  asked  one  of  the 
experienced  and  reliable  railway  officials  of  the 
traffic,  and  he  informed  me  that  "  Not  less  than 
twenty-six  thousand  car  loads  of  buffalo  bones 
had  been  shipped  over  the  Great  Northern  Rail- 
road to  the  bone  factories;  and  not  c  le  in  a 
thousand  of  the  remains  had  ever  been  touched." 
The  weight  of  a  full-sized  buffalo's  bones  is 
about  sixty  pounds.  The  traffic  is  still  enor- 
mous along  these  northern  lines.  If  the  Indian 
had  any  sentiment,  it  would  likely  be  called  out, 
as  he  wanders  over  the  plains  and  gathers  up 
the  dry  bones  of  these  well-nigh  extinct  wild 
herds,  that  fed  and  clothed  his  tribe  through  so 
many  generations. 

I  have  seen  beautiful  horses  but  never  saw 
any  half  !K)  handsome  as  the  wild  horses  upon  the 
plains.  The  tame  horse,  however  well  groomed, 
is  despoiled  of  his  grandeur.  He  compares  with 
his  wild  brother  as  the  plebian  compares  with 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


301 


royalty.  I  saw  a  beautiful  race  between  two 
Greasers  who  were  chasing  a  herd  of  wil'i 
horses.  They  were  running  parallel  with  the 
road  I  was  traveling,  and  I  spurred  up  and  ran 
by  their  side  some  four  hundred  yards  distant, 
and  had  a  chance  to  study  them  for  many  miles. 

I  aftei  wards  saw  a  handsome  stallion  that 
had  just  been  caught.  He  was  tied  and  in  a  cor- 
ral, but  if  one  approached  he  would  jump  at 
him  and  strike  and  kick  as  savagely  as  possible. 
His  back  showed  saddle  marks,  which  proved 
that  he  had  not  always  been  the  wild  savage  he- 
had  then  become.  The  mountains  and  hills 
where  the  wild  horses  were  then  most  numer- 
ous, were  covered  with  wild  oats,  which  gave  the 
country  the  appearance  of  large  cultivation. 

Among  the  interesting  facts  which  the  trav- 
eler on  the  great  plains  learns,  and  often  to  his 
discomfort,  is  the  deception  as  to  distance.  He 
sees  something  of  interest  and  resolves  "It  is 
but  two  miles  away,"  but  the  chances  are  that  it 
will  prove  to  be  eight  or  ten  miles.  The  coun- 
try is  made  up  of  great  waves.  Looking  off 
you  see  the  top  of  a  wave,  and  when  you  get 
there  a  valley  that  you  did  not  see,  stretches 
away  for  miles.  ^  ■ 

We  always  tried  to  treat  our  Indian  guests 
courteously,  but  they  were  often  voted  a  nuisance. 
While  cooking  our  supper  they  would  often  form 
a  circle,  twenty  or  thirty  of  them  sitting  on  the 


302 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


ground,  and  they  looked  so  longingly  at  the 
bread  and  ham  and  coffee,  that  it  almost  took 
one's  appetite  away.  We  could  only  afford  to 
give  the  squaws  what  was  left.  To  fill  up  such  a 
crowd  would  have  soon  ended  our  stock  of 
supplies. 

One  of  the  things  that  made  an  Indian  grunt, 
and  even  laugh,  was  to  see  our  cook  baking  pan- 
cakes in  a  long  handled  frying  pan.  To  turn  the 
cake  over  he  tossed  it  in  the  air  and  caught  it  as 
it  came  down.  A  cook  on  the  plains  that  could 
not  do  that  was  not  up  in  his  business. 

Except  upon  the  mountains  and  rocky 
canyons,  the  roads  were  as  good  as  a  turnpike; 
but  some  of  the  climbs  and  descents  were  fear- 
ful, while  an  occasional  canyon,  miles  long, 
looked  wholly  impassable  without  breaking  the 
legs  of  half  the  animals  and  smashing  the  wagons. 

The  old  plainsmen  had  a  way  of  setting  tires 
upon  a  loose  wheel  that  was  novel.  Our  tires 
beccme  very  loose  from  the  long  dry  reaches. 
We  took  off  the  tire,  tacked  a  slip  of  fresh  hide 
entirely  around  the  rim,  heated  the  tire,  dropped 
it  on  the  wheel  Jand  quickly  chucked  it  into  the 
water  and  had  wheels  as  good  as  new. 

Our  company  was  three  nights  and  two  days 
and  nearly  a  half  in  crossing  the  widest  desert. 
It  was  a  beautiful  firm  road  until  we  struck  deep 
sand,  which  extended  out  for  eleven  miles  from 
Carson   River  into  the  desert.     Before  starting 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


803 


lide 

)ed 

Ithe 

ays 
lert. 
leep 

rem 

ting 


we  emptied  our  rubber  clothes  sacks,  filled  them 
with  water,  hauled  hay,  which  we  had  cured,  to 
feed  our  mules,  and  made  the  trip  as  pleasanly 
as  if  upon  green  soil.  The  lack  of  water  on  this 
wide  desert  had  left  many  thousand  bones  of 
dead  animals  bleaching  upon  its  wastes.  Many 
wells  had  been  dug  in  various  places  and  we 
tested  the  water  in  them  and  found  it  intensely 
salt.  The  entire  space  is  evidently  the  bed  of  a 
salt  sea. 

In  the  long  reaches  where  no  trees  ot  any 
kind  grow,  the  entire  dependence  of  the  early 
pioneer  for  fire  was  upon  buffalo  chips,  the  ani- 
mal charcoal  of  the  plains.  It  makes  a  good 
fire  and  is  in  no  way  offensive.  And  if  no  iron 
horse  had  invaded  the  plains,  buffalo  chips  would 
be  selling  all  along  the  route  to-day  at  forty  dol- 
lars per  ton. 

One  of  the  pleasant  historical  events  in  which 
our  company  naturally  takes  a  pride  is,  that 
one  night  we  camped  upon  a  little  mountain 
stream  near  where  the  city  of  Denver  now 
stands;  the  whole  land  as  wild  as  nature  made 
it.  Many  years  afterward  one  of  the  little  band, 
Frank  Denver,  was  elected  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor of  Colorado,  and  General  J.  W.  Denver 
was  among  the  most  prominent  politicians  of 
the  Coast,  and  the  city  of  Denver  was  named  in 
honor  of  them.  I  have  thus,  as  concisely  as 
I    could,   sketched    life   as   it   was   in   a   wagon 


804 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


ourney  across  the  plains  forty-five  and  fifty 
years  ago.  It  was  a  memorable  experience,  and 
none  who  took  it  will  fail  to  have  of  it  a  vivid 
remembrance,  as  long  as  life  lasts.  If  its  annoy- 
ances were  many,  its  novelties  and  pleasing 
remembr  .'c~s  were  so  numerous  as  to  make  it 
the  notable  journey  of  even  the  most  adventur- 
ous life. 


ty 

ind 
vid 
ey- 
ing 
e  it 
;ur- 


APPENDIX. 


NARRATIVE   OF    THE    WINTER    TRIP    ACROSS    THE    ROCKY 
MOUNTAINS  OF  DR.  MARCUS  WHITMAN  AND  HON. 
A.   LAWRENCE    LOVEJOY,   IN    1 842,   FUR- 
NISHED    BY     REQUEST,     FROM 
'  MR.    LOVEJOY,   THE 

SURVIVOR. 


Oregon  City,  Feb.  14,  1876. 
Dr.  Atkinson — Dear  Sir\  In  compliance 
with  your  request,  I  will  endeavor  to  give  you 
some  idea  of  the  journey  of  the  late  Dr.  Marcus 
Whitman  from  Oregon  to  Washington,  in  the 
winter  of  1842  and  '43.  True,  I  was  the  Doctor's 
traveling  companion  in  that  arduous  and  trying 
journey,  but  it  would  take  volumes  to  describe 
the  many  thrilling  scenes  and  dangerous  hair- 
breadth escapes  we  passed  through,  traveling, 
as  we  did,  almost  the  entire  route  through  a 
hostile  Indian  country,  and  enduring  much  suffer- 
ing from  the  intense  cold  and  snow  we  had  to 
encounter  in  passing  over  the  Rocky  Mountains 
20  3(e 


306 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


in  mid-winter.  I  crossed  the  Plains  in  company 
with  Dr.  White  and  others,  and  arrived  at  Waii- 
latpui  the  last  of  September,  1842.  My  party 
camped  some  two  miles  below  Dr.  Whitman's 
place.  The  day  after  our  arrival  Dr.  Whitman 
called  at  our  camp  and  asked  me  to  accom- 
pany him  to  his  house,  as  he  wished  me 
to  draw  up  a  memorial  to  Congress  to  prohibit 
the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  in  this  country.  The 
Doctor  was  alive  to  the  interests  of  this, Coast, 
and  manifested  a  very  warm  desire  to  have  it 
properly  represented  at  Washington  ;  and  after 
numerous  conversations'  with  the  Doctor  touch- 
in^  che  future  prosperity  of  Oregon,  he  asked  me 
one  day  in  a  very  anxious  manner,  if  I  thought 
it  would  be  possible  for  him  to  cross  the  moun- 
tains at  that  time  of  the  year.^  I  told  him  I 
thought  he  could.  He  next  asked,  "Will  you 
accompany  me?"  After  a  little  reflection,  I  told 
him  I  would.  His  arrangements  were  rapidly 
made.  Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  McKinly, 
then  stationed  at  Fort  Walla  Walla,  Mrs.  Whit 
man  was  provided  with  suitable  escorts  to  the 
Willamette  valley,  where  she  was  to  remain  with 
her  Missionary  friends  until  the  Doctors  return. 
We  left  Waiilatpui  October  3,  1842,  traveled 
rapidly,  reached  Fort  Hall  in  eleven  days, 
remained  two  days  to  recruit  and  make  a  few 
purchases.  The  Doctor  engaged  a  guide  and  we 
left  for  Fort  Uintah.   We  changed  from  a  direct 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON, 


307 


route  to  one  more  southern,  through  the  Spanish 
Country  via.  Salt  Lake,  Taos  and  Santa  Fe.  On 
our  way  from  Fort  Hall  to  Fort  Uintah,  we  had 
terribly  severe  weather.  The  snows  retarded 
our  progress  and  blinded  the  trail  so  we  lost 
much  time.  After  arriving  at  Fort  Uintah  and 
making  some  purchases  for  our  trip,  we  took  a 
new  guide  and  started  for  Fort  Uncumpahgra, 
situated  on  the  waters  of  Grand  River,  in  the  Span- 
ish Country.     Here  our  stay  was  very  short. 

We  took  a  new  guide  and  started  for  Taos. 
After  being  out  some  four  or  five  days  we  en- 
coutered  a  terrible  snow  storm,  which  forced  us 
to  seek  shelter  in  a  deep  ravine,  where  we  re- 
mained snowed  in  for  four  days,  at  which  time 
the  storm  had  somewhat  abated,  and  we  at- 
tempted to  make  our  way  out  upon  the  high 
lands,  but  the  snow  was  so  deep  and  the  winds 
so  piercing  and  cold  we  were  compelled  to  return 
to  camp  and  wait  a  few  days  for  a  change  of 

weather. 

Our  next  effort  to  reach  the  highlandswas 

more  successful;  but  after  spending  several  days 
wanderipg  around  in  the  snow  without  mak- 
ing much  headway,  our  guide  told  us  that  the 
deep  snow  had  so  changed  the  face  of  the  coun- 
try that  he  was  completely  lost  and  could  take 
us  no  farther.  This  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the 
Doctor,  but  he  was  determined  not  to  give  it  up 
without  another  effort.     We  at  once  agreed  that 


11 


i 


808 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


the  Doctor  should  take  the  guide  and  return  to 
Fort  Uncumpahgra  and  get  a  new  guide,  and  I 
remain  in  camp  with  the  nnimals  until  he  could 
return;  which  he  did  in  seven  days  with  our  new 
guide,  and  we  were  now  on  our  route  again. 
Nothing  of  much  importance  occurred  bur  hard 
and  slow  traveling  through  deep  snow  until  we 
reached  Grand  River,  which  was  frozen  on  either 
side  about  one-third  across.  Although  so  in- 
tensely cold,  the  current  was  so  very  rapid,  about 
one-third  of  the  river  in  the  center  was  not 
frozen.  Our  guide  thought  it  would  be  danger- 
ous to  attempt  to  cross  the  river  in  its  present 
condition,  but  the  Doctor,  nothing  daunted,  was 
the  first  to  take  the  water.  He  mounted  his 
horse  and  the  guide  and  myself  shoved  the  Doctor 
and  his  horse  off  the  ice  into  the  foaming  stream. 
Away  he  went  completely  under  water,  horse  and 
all,  but  directly  came  up,  and  after  buffeting  the 
rapid,  foaming  current  he  reached  the  ice  on  the 
opposite  shore  a  long  way  down  the  stream.  He 
leaped  from  his  horse  upon  the  ice  and  soon  had 
his  noble  animal  by  his  side.  The  guide  and 
myself  forced  in  the  pack  animals  and  followed 
the  Doctor's  example,  and  were  soon  on  the  op- 
posite shore  drying  our  frozen  clothes  by  a  com- 
fortable fire.  We  reached  Taos  in  about  thirty 
days,  suffering  greatly  from  cold  and  scarcity  of 
provisions.  We  were  compelled  to  use  mule 
meat,  dogs  and  such  other  animals  as  came  in 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


800 


our  reach.  We  remained  at  Taos  a  few  days 
only,  and  started  for  Bent's  and  Savery's  Fort, 
on  the  head  waters  of  the  Arkansas  River. 
When  we  had  been  out  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
days,  we  met  George  Bent,  a  brother  of  Gov. 
Bent,  on  his  way  to  Taos.  He  told  us  that  a  party 
of  mountain  men  would  leave  Bent's  Fort  in  a 
few  days  for  St.  Louis,  but  said  we  would  not 
reach  the  Fort  with  our  pack  animals  in  time  to 
join  the  party.  The  Doctor  being  very  anxious 
to  join  the  party  so  he  could  push  on  as  rapidly 
as  possible  to  Washington,  concluded  to  leave 
myself  and  guide  with  the  animals,  and  he  him- 
self, taking  the  best  animal,  with  some  bedding 
and  a  small  allowance  of  provision,  started  alone, 
hoping  by  rapid  travel  to  reach  the  Fort  in  time 
to  join  the  St.  Louis  party,  but  to  do  so  he  would 
have  to  travel  on  the  Sabbath,  something  we 
had  not  done  before.  Myself  and  guide  traveled 
on  slowly  and  reached  the  Fort  in  four  days,  but 
imagine  our  astonishment,  when  on  making  in- 
quriry  about  the  Doctor,  we  were  told  tliat  he  had 
not  arrived  nor  had  be  been  heard  of. 

I  learned  that  the  party  for  St.  Louis  was 
camped  at  the  Big  Cottonwood,  forty  miles  from 
the  Fort,  and  at  my  request,  Mr.  Savery  sent  an 
express  telling  the  party  not  to  proceed  any  fur- 
ther until  we  learned  something  of  Dr.  Whit- 
man's whereabouts,  as  he  wished  to  accompany 
them  to  St.  Louis.     Being  furnished  by  the  gen- 


310 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


tlemen  of  the  Fort  with  a  suitable  guide,  I  started 
in  search  of  the  Doctor,  and  traveled  up  the  river 
about  one  hundred  miles.  I  learned  from  the 
Indians  that  a  man  had  been  there,  who  was  lost, 
and  was  trying  to  find  Bent's  Fort.  They  said 
they  had  directed  him  to  go  clown  the  river,  and 
how  to  find  the  Fort.  I  knew  from  their  destrip- 
tion  it  was  the  Doctor.  I  returned  to  the  Fort  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  but  the  Doctor  had  not 
arrived.  We  had  all  become  very  anxious  about 
him. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  he  came  in  very  much 
fatigued  and  desponding  ;  said  that  he  knew 
that  God  had  bewildered  him  to  punish  him  for 
traveling  on  the  Sabbath.  During  the  whole 
trip  he  was  very  regular  in  his  morning  and  even- 
ing devotions,  and  that  was  the  only  time  I  ever 
knew  him  to  travel  on  the  Sabbath. 

The  Doctor  remained  all  night  at  the  Fort, 
starting  early  on  the  following  morning  to  join 
the  St.  Louis  party.  Here  we  parted.  The 
Doctor  proceeded  to  Washington.  I  remained 
at  Bent's  Fort  until  Spring,  and  joined  the 
Doctor  the  following  July,  near  Fort  Laramie, 
on  his  way  to  Oregon,  in  company  with  a  train 
of  emigrants.  He  often  expressed  himself  to  me 
about  the  remainder  of  his  journey,  and  the 
manner  in  which  he  was  received  at  Washington, 
and  by  the  Board  for  Foreign  Missions  at 
Boston.     He  had  several  interviews  with  Presi- 


now   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


811 


dent  Tyler,  Secretary  Webster,  and  a  good  many 
members  of  Congress  —  Congress  being  in  ses- 
sion at  that  time.  He  urged  the  immediate  ter- 
mination of  the  Treaty  with  Great  Britain  rela- 
tive to  this  country,  anU  begged  them  to  extend 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  over  Oregon,  and 
asked  for  liberal  inducements  to  emigrants  to 
come  to  this  Coast.  He  was  very  cordially  and 
kindly  received  by  the  President  and  Memb  rs 
of  Congress,  and,  without  doubt,  the  Doctor's 
interviews  resulted  greatly  to  the  benefit  of 
Oregon  and  to  this  Coast.  But  his  reception  at 
the  Board  for  Foreign  Missions  was  not  so 
cordial.  The  Board  was  inclined  to  censure  him 
for  leaving  his  post.  The  Doctor  came  to  the 
frontier  settlement,  urging  the  citizens  to  emi- 
grate to  the  Pacific.  He  left  Independence, 
Missouri,  in  the  month  of  May,  1843,  with  an 
emigrant  train  of  about  one  thousand  souls  for 
Oregon.  With  his  energy  and  knowledge  of  the 
country,  he  rendered  them  great  assistance  in 
fording  the  many  dangerous  and  rapid  streams 
they  had  to  cross,  and  in  finding  a  wagon  road 
through  many  of  the  narrow  rugged  passes  of 
the  mountains.  He  arrived  at  Waiilatpui  about 
one  year  from  the  time  he  left,  to  find  his  home 
sadly  dilapidated,  his  flouring  mill  burned.  The 
Indians  were  very  hostile  to  the  Doctor  for  leav- 
ing them,  and  without  doubt,  owing  to  his  ab- 
sence, the  seeds  of  assassination  were  sown  by 


812 


now   MNRCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


those  hauj^hty  Cayuse  Indians  which  resulted  in 
his  and  Mrs.  Whitman's  death,  with  many  others, 
although  it  did  not  take  place  until  four  years 
later. 

I  remain  with  great  respect, 

A.  Lawrence  Lovejoy. 


f, 


{ 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


818 


HEE-OH-KS-TE-KIN.— The  Rahbit's  Skin  Leggins. 

(DRAWN  BY  GEORGE  CATLIN  ) 

The  only  one  of  the  five  Nez  Perces  Chiefs  (some  say  there  were 

only  four)  who  visited  St.  Louis  in  1832,  that  lived  to 

return  to  his  people  to  tell  the  story. 


814         now  MARCUS  whitman  saved  oui-x.on. 


HCO-A-HCO-A-HCOTES-MIN.— No  Horns  on  his  Hkah. 

This  one  died  on  his  return  journey  near  the  mouth  of 
Yellowstone  River. 


This  is  what  Catlin  says  himself:  "  These  two  men  when  I 
painted  them,  were  in  beautiful  Sioux  dresses,  which  had  been 
presented  to  them  in  a  talk  with  the  Sioux,  who  treated  them  very 
kindly,  while  passing  through  the  Sioux  country.  These  two 
men  were  part  of  a  delegation  that  came  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  St.  Louis,  a  few  years  since,  to  inquire  for  the  truth 
of  a  representation  which  they  said  some  white  man  had  made 
among  them,  "  that  our  religion  was  better  than  theirs,  and  that 
they  would  be  all  lost  if  they  did  not  embrace  it."  Two  old  and 
venerable  men  of  this  party  died  in  St.  Louis,  and  I  traveled 
two  thousand  miles,  companions  with  these  two  fellows,  towards 
their  own  country,  and  became  much  pleased  with  their  manners 
and  dispositions.  When  I  first  heard  the  report  of  the  objeet  of 
this  extraordinary  mission  across  the  mountains,  I  could  scarcely 
believe  it;  but,  on  conversing  with  General  Clark,  on  a  future 
occasion,  I  was  fully  convinced  of  the  fact." 

See  Catlin's  Kight  Years,  and  Smithsonian  Report  for  1885, 
2nd  part. 


DR.  WHITMAN'S  LETTER 


TO  THE  HON.  JAMES  M.  TORTER,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR,  WITH 

A  BILL  TO    BE  LAID    BEFORE  CONGRESS,  FOR 

ORGANIZATION  OF    OREGON. 


1 


The  Rev.  Myron  Eells  obtained  from  the 
original  files  of  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  two  valuable  papers.  They  bear  this  en- 
endorsement. 

"Marcus  Whitman  inclosing  synopsis  of  a 
bill,  with  his  views  in  reference  to  importance  of 
the  Oregon  Territory,  War.  382 — rec.  June  22, 
1844. 

To  the  Hon.  James  M.  Porter, 

Secretary  of  War. 

Sir: — In  compliance  with  the  request 
you  did  me  the  honor  to  make  last  Winter,  while 
in  Washington,  I  herewith  transmit  to  you  the 
synopsis  of  a  bill  which,  if  it  could  be  adopted, 
would,  according  to  my  experience  and  observa- 
tion, prove  highly  conducive  to  the  best  interests 


iJ16 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


of  the  United  States  generally,  to  Oregon, 
where  I  have  resided  for  more  than  seven  years 
as  a  Missionary,  and  to  the  Indian  tribes  that 
inhabit  the  immediate  country.  The  Govern- 
ment will  now  doubtless  for  the  first  time  be 
apprised  through  you,  or  by  means  of  this  com- 
munication, of  the  immense  immigration  of  fam- 
ilies to  Oregon  which  has  taken  place  this  year. 
I  have,  since  our  interview,  been  instrumental  in 
piloting  across  the  route  described  in  the  accom- 
panying bill,  and  which  is  the  only  eligible  wagon 
road,  no  less  than  three  hundred  families,  con- 
sisting of  one  thousand  persons  of  both  sexes, 
with  their  wagons,  amounting  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty,  six  hundred  and  ninety-four  oxen, 
and  seven  hundred  and  seventy-three  loose 
cattle. 

The  emigrants  are  trom  different  States,  but 
principally  from  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Illinois  and 
New  York.  The  majority  of  them  are  farmers, 
lured  by  the  prospect  of  bounty  in  lands,  by  the 
reported  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  by  the  desire  to 
be  first  P-ii.v^ng  those  who  are  planting  our  insti- 
tutions on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Am^ong  them  are 
artisans  of  every  trade,  comprising,  with  farm- 
ers, the  very  best  material  for  a  new  colony.  As 
pioneers,  these  people  have  undergone  incredi- 
ble hardships,  and  having  now  safely  passed  the 
Blue  Mountain  Range  with  their  wagons  and 
effects,  have   established   a   durable  road   from 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


317 


Missouri  to  Oregon,  which  will  serve  to  mark 
permanently  the  route  for  larger  numbers,  each 
succeeding  year,  while  they  have  practically 
demonstrated  that  wagons  drawn  by  horses  or 
oxen  can  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Co- 
lumbia River,  contrary  to  all  the  sinister  asser- 
tions of  all  those  who  pretended  it  to  be  impos- 
sible. 

In  their  slow  progress,  these  persons  have 
encountered,  as  in  all  former  instances,  and  as 
all  succeeding  emigrants  must,  if  this  or  some 
similar  bill  be  not  passed  by  Congress,  the  con- 
tinual fear  of  Indian  aggression,  the  actual  loss 
through  them  of  horses,  cattle  and  other  prop- 
erty, and  the  great  labor  of  transporting  an  ade- 
quate amount  of  provisions  for  so  long  a  jour- 
ney. The  bill  herewith  proposed  would,  in  a 
great  measure,  lessen  these  inconveniences  by 
the  establishment  of  posts,  which,  while  having 
the  possessed  power  to  keep  the  Indians  in 
check,  thus  doing  away  with  the  necessity  of 
military  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  traveler  by 
day  and  night,  would  be  able  to  furnish  them  in 
transit  with  fresh  supplies  of  provisions,  dimin- 
ishing the  original  burdens  of  the  emigrants,  and 
finding  thus  a  ready  and  profitable  market  for 
their  produce — a  market  that  would,  in  my  opin- 
ion, more  than  suffice  to  defray  all  the  current 
expenses  of  such  posts.  The  present  party  is 
supposed  to  have  expended  no  less  than  $2,000 


818 


HOW    MAKCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED    ORE    ON. 


at  Laramie's  and  Bridger's  Forts,  and  as  much 
more  at  Fort  Hall  and  Fort  Boise,  two  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company's  stations.  These  are 
at  present  the  only  stopping  places  in  a  journey 
of  ",200  miles,  and  the  only  place  where  addi- 
tional supplies  can  be  obtained,  even  at  the 
enormous  rate  of  charge,  called  mountain  prices, 
i.  e.,  $50  the  hundred  for  flour,  and  $50  the  hun- 
dred for  coffee;  the  same  for  sugar  powder,  etc. 
Many  cases  of  sickness  and  some  deaths  took 
place  among  those  who  accomplished  the  jour- 
ney this  season,  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  to 
the  uninterrupted  use  of  meat,  salt  and  fresh, 
with  flour,  which  constitute  the  chief  articles  of 
food  they  are  able  to  convey  on  their  wagons, 
and  this  could  be  obviated  by  the  vegetable  pro- 
ductions which  the  posts  in  contemplation  could 
very  profitably  afford  them.  Those  who  rely 
on  hunting  as  an  auxiliary  support,  are  at  pres- 
ent unable  to  have  their  arms  repaired  when 
out  of  order;  horses  and  oxen  become  tender- 
footed  and  require  to  be  shod  on  this  long  jour- 
ney, sometimes  repeatedly,  and  the  wagons  re- 
paired in  a  variety  of  ways.  I  mention  these  as 
valuable  incidents  to  the  proposed  measure,  as  it 
will  also  be  found  to  tend  in  many  other  inci- 
dental ways  to  benefit  the  migratory  population 
of  the  United  States  choosing  to  take  this  direc- 
tion, and  on  these  accounts,  as  well  as  for  the 
immediate  use  of    the   posts  themselves,    they 


HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON 


319 


ought  to  be  provided  with  the  necessary  shops 
and  mechanics,  which  would  at  the  same  time 
exhibit  the  several  branches  of  civilized  art  to 
the  Indians. 

The  outlay  m  the  first  instance  would  be  but 
trifling.  Forts  like  those  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company's  surrounded  by  walls  enclosing  all  the 
buildings,  and  constructed  almost  entirely  of 
adobe,  or  sun-dried  bricks,  with  stone  founda- 
tions only,  can  be  easily  and  cheaply  erected. 

There  are  very  eligible  places  for  as  many  of 
these  as  the  Government  will  find  necessary,  at 
suitable  distances,  not  further  than  one  or  two 
hundred  miles  apart,  at  the  main  cro^ssing  of  the 
principal  streams  that  now  form  impediments  to 
the  journey,  and  consequently  well  supplied  with 
water,  having  alluvial  bottom  lands  of  a  rich 
quality,  and  generally  well  wooded.  If  I  might 
be  allowed  to  suggest,  the  best  sites  for  said 
posts,  my  personal  knowledge  and  observation 
enable  me  to  recommend  first,  the  main  crossing 
of  the  Kansas  River,  where  a  ferry  would  be  very 
convenient  to  the  traveler,  and  profitable  to  the 
station  having  it  in  charge;  next,  and  about 
eighty  miles  distant,  the  crossing  of  Blue  River, 
where  in  times  of  unusual  freshet,  a  ferry  would 
be  in  like  manner  useful;  next,  and  distant  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
the  last  mentioned,  the  Little  Blue,  or  Repub- 
lican Fork  of  the  Kansas;  next,  and   from  sixty 


820 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED   OREGON. 


to  one  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  last  men- 
tioned, the  point  of  intersection  of  the  Platte 
River;  next,  and  from  one  hundred  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  distant  from  the  last  men- 
tioned, crossing  of  the  South  Fork  of  the  Platte 
River;  next,  and  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
or  two  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  last  men- 
tioned, Horseshoe  Creek,  which  is  about  forty 
miles  west  of  Laramie's  Fork  in  the  Black  Hills. 
Here  is  a  fine  creek  for  mills  and  irrigation,  good 
land  for  cultivation,  fine  pasturage,  timber  and 
stone  for  building.  Other  locations  may  be  had 
along  the  Platte  and  Sweetwater,  on  the  Green 
River,  or  Black's  Forks  of  the  Bear  River,  near 
the  great  Soda  Springs,  near  Fort  Hall,  and  at 
suitable  places  down  to  the  Columbia.  These 
localities  are  all  of  the  best  description,  so  situ- 
ated as  to  hold  a  ready  intercourse  with  the  In- 
dians in  thtlr  passage  to  and  from  the  ordinary 
buffalo  hunting  grounds,  and  in  themselves  so 
well  situated  in  all  other  respects  as  to  be  desir- 
able to  private  enterprise  if  the  usual  advantage 
of  trade  existed.  Any  of  the  farms  above  indi- 
cated would  be  deemed  extremely  valuable  in 
the  States. 

The  Government  cannot  long  overlook  the 
importance  of  superintending  the  savages 
that  endanger  this  line  of  travel,  and  that  are 
not  yet  in  treaty  with  it.  Some  of  these  are  al- 
ready well  known  to  be  led  by  desperate  white- 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


321 


men  and  mongrels,  who  form  bandits  in  the  most 
difficult  passes,  and  are  at  all  times  ready  to  cut 
off  some  lagging  emigrant  in  the  rear  of  the 
party,  or  some  adventurous  one  who  may  pro- 
ceed a  few  miles  in  advance,  or  at  night  to  make 
a  descent  upon  the  sleeping  camp  and  carry 
away  or  kill  horses  and  cattle.  This  is  the  case 
even  now  in  the  commencement  of  our  western 
immigration,  and  when  it  comes  to  be  more  gen- 
erally known  that  large  quantities  of  valuable 
property  and  considerable  sums  of  money  are 
yearly  carried  over  this  desolate  region,  it  is 
feared  that  an  organized  banditti  will  be  insti- 
tuted. The  posts  in  contemplation  would  effect- 
ually counteract  this.  For  the  purpose  they 
need  not,  or  ought  not,  to  be  military  establish- 
ments. The  trading  posts  in  this  country  have 
never  been  of  such  a  character,  and  yet  with 
very  few  men  in  them,  have  for  years  kept  the 
surrounding  Indians  in  the  most  pacific  disposi- 
tion, so  that  the  traveler  feels  secure  from  mo- 
lestation upon  approaching  Fort  Laramie,  Bridg- 
er's  Fort,  Fort  Hall,  etc.,  etc.  The  same  can  be 
obtained  without  any  considerable  expenditure  by 
the  Government,  while  b>  fnvesting  the  officers 
in  charge  with  competent  authority,  all  evil-dis- 
posed white  men,  refugees  from  justice,  or  dis- 
charged vagabonds  from  trading  posts  might  be 
easily  removed  from  among  the  Indians  and 
sent  to  the  appropriate  States  for  trial.  The 
21 


322 


HOW    MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


Hudson  Bay  Company's  system  of  rewards 
among  the  savages  would  soon  enable  the  posts 
to  root  out  these  desperadoes.  A  direct  and 
friendly  intercourse  with  all  the  tribes,  even  to 
the  Pacific,  might  be  thus  maintained;  the  Gov- 
ernment would  become  more  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  them,  and  they  with  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  instead  of  sending  to  the  State 
courts  a  manifestly  guilty  Indian  to  be  ar- 
raigned before  a  distant  tribunal  and  acquitted 
for  the  want  of  testimony,  by  the  technicalities  of 
lawyers, and  of  the  law  unknown  to  them,  and 
sent  back  into  the  wilderness  loaded  with  pre- 
sents, as  an  inducement  to  further  crime,  the 
post  should  be  enabled  to  execute  summary  jus- 
tice, as  if  the  criminal  had  been  already  con- 
demned by  his  tribe,  because  the  tribe  will  be 
sure  to  deliver  up  none  but  the  party  whom  they 
know  to  be  guilty.  They  will  in  that  way  receive 
the  trial  of  their  peers,  and  secure  within  them- 
selves to  all  intents  and  purposes,  if  not  techni- 
cally the  trial  by  jury,  yet  the  spirit  of  that  trial. 
There  are  many  powers  which  ought  to  reside  in 
some  person  on  this  extended  route  for  the  con- 
venience and  even  necessity  of  the  public. 

In  this  the  emigrant  and  the  people  of  Ore- 
gon are  no  more  interested  than  the  resident  in- 
habitant of  the  States.  At  present  no  person  is 
authorized  to  administer  an  oath,  or  legally  at- 
test a  fact,  from  the  western  line  of  Missouri  to 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


323 


the  Pacific.  The  immigrant  cannot  dispose  of 
his  property  at  home,  although  an  opportunity 
ever  so  advantageous  to  him  should  occur  after 
he  passes  the  western  border  of  Missouri.  No 
one  can  here  make  a  legal  demand  and  protest 
of  a  promissory  note  or  bill  of  exchange.  No 
one  can  secure  the  valuable  testimony  of  a  moun- 
taineer, or  an  immigrating  witness  after  he  has 
entered  this,  at  present,  lawless  country.  Causes 
do  exist  and  will  continually  arise,  in  which  the 
private  rights  of  citizens  are,  and  will  be,  seri- 
ously prejudiced  by  such  an  utter  absence  of 
legal  authority.  A  contraband  trade  fro.i  Mex- 
ico, the  introduction  from  that  country  of 
liquors  to  be  sold  among  the  Indians  west  of  the 
Kansas  River,  is  already  carried  on  with  the 
mountain  trappers,  and  very  soon  the  teas,  silks, 
nankeens,  spices,  camphor  and  opium  of  the 
East  Indies  will  find  their  way,  duty  free, 
through  Oregon,  across  the  mountains  and  into 
the  States,  unless  Custom  House  officers  along 
this  line  find  an  interest  in  intercepting  them. 

Your  familiarity  with  the  Government  policy, 
duties  and  interest  render  it  unnecessary  for  me 
to  more  than  hint  at  the  several  objects  intended 
by  the  enclosed  bill,  and  any  enlargement  upon 
the  topics  here  suggested  as  inducements  to  its 
adoption  would  be  quite  superfluous,  if  not  im- 
pertinent. The  very  existence  of  such  a  system 
as  the  one  above  recommended  suggest  the  util- 


824 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


ity  of  post  offices  and  mail  arrangements,  which 
it. is  the  wish  of  all  who  now  live  in  Oregon  to 
have  ft  raLted  them;  and  I  need  only  add  that 
'  •  nu.  its  for  this  purpose  will  be  readily  taken 
b.t  mahlG  rates   for  transporting  the  mail 

aci.as  h\n  Missouri  to  the  mouth  of  the  Col- 
umbia in  foi  ty  days,  with  fresh  horses  at  each  of 
the  contemplated  posts.  The  ruling  policy  pro- 
posed regards  the  Indians  as  the  police  of  the 
country,  who  are  to  be  relied  upon  to  keep  the 
peace,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  to  repel  law- 
less white  men  and  prevent  banditti,  under  the 
solitary  guidance  of  the  Superintendents  of  the 
several  posts,  aided  by  a  well  directed  system  to 
induce  the  punishment  of  crime.  It  will  only  be 
after  the  failure  of  these  means  to  procure  the 
delivery  or  punishment  of  violent,  lawless  and 
savage  acts  of  aggression,  that  a  band  or  tribe 
should  be  regarded  as  conspirators  against  the 
peace,  or  punished  accordingly  by  force  of  arms. 
Hoping  that  these  suggestions  may  meet  your 
approbation,  and  conduce  to  the  future  interest 
of  our  growing  country,  I  have  the  honor  to  be. 
Honorable  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Marcus  Whitman. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


hz' 


COPY  OF  PROPOSED  BILL  PREPARED   BY  DR.  MARCUS 

WHITMAN  IN  1843  AND  SENT  TO  THE 

SECRETARY   OF  WAR. 

A  bill  to  promote  safe  intercourse  with  the 
Territory  of  Oregon,  to  suppress  violent  acts  of 
aggression  on  the  part  of  c<  tain  Indian  tribes 
west  of  the  Indian  Territory,  Vr  cho,  better  pro- 
tect the  revenue,  for  the  ^nsj^rtation  of  the 
mail  and  for  other  purpof . . 

SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  ACT. 

Section  i. — To  be  enacted  by  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  that  from 
and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  there  shall  be 
established  at  suitable  distances,  and  in  conven- 
ient and  proper  places,  to  be  selected  by  the 
President,  a  chain  of  agricultural  posts  or  farm- 
ing stations,  extending  at  intervals  from  the 
present  most  usual  crossing,  of  the  Kansas 
River,  west  of  the  western  boundary  of  the  State 
of  Missouri,  thence  ascending  the  Platte  River 
on  the  Southern  border,  thence  through  the  val- 
ley of  the  Sweetwater  River  to  Fort  Hall,  and 
thence  to  settlements  of  the  Willamette  in  the 
Territory  of  Oregon.  Which  said  posts  will  have 
for  their  object  to  set  examples  of  civilized  in- 
dustry to  the  several  Indian  tribes,  to  keep  them 
in  proper  subjection  to  the  laws  of  the  United 


820 


now   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


States,  to  suppress  violent  and  lawless  acts  along 
the  said  line  of  the  frontier,  to  facilitate  the  pas- 
sage of  troops  and  munitions  of  war  into  and 
out  of  the  said  Territory  of  Oregon,  and  the 
transportation  of  the  mail  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided. 

Section  2. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  that 
there  shall  reside  at  each  of  said  Posts,  one 
Superintendent  having  charge  thereof,  with  full 
power  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  this 
Act,  subject  always  to  such  instructions  as  the 
President  may  impose;  one  Deputy  Superintend- 
ent to  act  in  like  manner  in  case  of  death,  re- 
moval or  absence  of  the  Superintendent,  and  such 
artificers  and  laborers,  not  exceeding  twenty  in 
number,  as  the  said  Superintendent  may  deem 
necessary  for  the  conduct  arid  safety  of  said  Posts, 
all  of  whom  shall  be  subject  to  disappointment 
and  liable  to  removal. 

Section 3. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  cause  to  be 
erected,  at  each  of  the  said  Posts,  buildings  suit- 
able for  the  purpose  herein  contemplated:  to- 
wit,  one  main  dwelling  house,  one  storehouse, 
one  blacksmith's  and  one  gunsmith's  shop,  one 
carpenter  shop,  with  such  and  so  many  other 
buildings,  for  storing  the  products  and  supplies 
of  said  Posts  as  he  from  time  to  time  may  deem 
expedient.  To  supply  the  same  with  all  neces- 
sary mechanical   and    agricultural   implements, 


II0\7    MAKCUS    WHITMAN   SAVliD   OREGON. 


327 


to  perform  the  labor  incident  tnereto,  and  with  all 
other  articles  he  may  judge  requisite  and  proper 
for  the  safety,  comfort  and  defense  thereof. 

To  cause  said  Posts  in  his  discretion  to  be  \  is- 
ited  by  detachments  of  the  troops  stationed  on 
the  Western  frontier,  to  suppress  through  said 
Posts  the  sale  of  munitions  of  war  to  the  In- 
dian tribes  in  case  of  hostilities,  and  annually  to 
lay  before  Congress,  at  its  general  session,  full  re 
turns,  verified  by  the  oaths  of  the  several  Super- 
intendents, of  llie  several  acts  by  them  performed 
and  of  the  condition  of  said  Posts,  with  the  in- 
come and  expenditures  growing  out  of  the  same 
respectively. 

Section  4. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  the 
said  Superintendents  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
President  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate  for  the  term  of  four  years,  with  a  sal- 
ary of  two  hundred  dollars  payable  out  of  any 
moneys  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropri- 
ated; that  they  shall  respectively  take  an  oath 
before  the  District  Judge  of  the  United  States  for 
the  Western  District  of  Missouri,  faithfully  to 
discharge  the  duties  imposed  on  them  in  and  by 
the  provisions  of  this  Act,  and  give  a  bond  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  to  his  succes- 
sors in  office  and  assigns,  and  with  sufficient 
security  to  be  approved  by  the  said  Judge  in  at 
least  the  penalty  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars, 
to  indemnify  the  President  or   his  successors  01 


828 


now  MARCUS  WtlirMAN  SAVED  OKBGON. 


assigns  for  any  unlawful  acts  by  them  performed, 
or  injuries  committed  by  virtue  of  their  offices, 
which  said  bonds  may  at  any  time  be  assigned  for 
prosecution  against  the  said  respective  Superin- 
tendents and  their  sureties  upon  application  to  the 
said  Judge  at  the  instance  of  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Attorney  or  of  any  private  party  aggrieved. 

Section  5. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Superintendents  to  cause 
the  soil  adjacent  to  said  Posts,  in  extent  not  ex- 
ceeding 640  acres,  to  be  cultivated  in  a  farmer- 
like manner  and  to  produce  such  articles  of  cul- 
ture as  in  their  judgment  shall  be  deemed  the 
most  profitable  and  available  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  said  Posts,  for  the  supply  of  troops  and 
other  Government  agents  which  may  from  time 
to  time  resort  thereto,  and  to  render  the  pro- 
ducts aforesaid  adequate  to  defraying  all  the 
expenses  of  labor  in  and  about  said  Posts,  and 
the  salary  of  the  said  Deputy  Superintendent, 
without  resort  to  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States,  remitting  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
yearly  a  sworn  statement  of  the  same,  with  the 
surplus  moneys,  if  any  there  shall  be. 

Section  6. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  tnat  the 
said  several  Superintendents  of  Posts  shall,  ex- 
officio,  be  Superintendents  of  Indian  Affairs  west 
of  the  Indian  Territory,  Neocho,  subordinate  to 
and  under  the  full  control  of  the  Commissioner- 
General  of  Indian  Affairs  at  Washington.    That 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


»20 


they  shall,  by  virtue  cf  their  offices,  be  conserv- 
ators oi  the  peace,  with  full  powers  to  the  extent 
hereinafter  prescribed,  in  all  cases  of  crimes  and 
misdemeanors,  whether  committed  by  citizens  of 
the  United  States  or  by  Indians  within  the  fron- 
tier line  aforesaid.  That  they  shall  have  power 
to  administer  oaths,  to  be  valid  in  the  several 
courts  of  the  United  States,  to  perpetuate  testi- 
mony to  be  used  in  said  courts,  to  take  acknowl- 
edgements of  deeds  and  other  specialties  in  writ- 
ing, to  take  probate  of  wills  and  the  testaments 
executed  upon  the  said  frontier,  of  which  the 
testators  shall  have  died  in  transit  between  the 
State  of  Missouri  and  the  Territory  of  Oregon, 
and  to  do  and  certify  all  notarial  acts,  and  to 
perform  the  ceremony  of  marriage,  with  as  legal 
effect  as  if  the  said  several  acts  above  enumer- 
ated had  been  performed  by  the  magistrates  of 
any  of  the  States  having  power  to  perform  the 
service.  That  they  shall  have  power  to  arrest 
and  remove  from  the  line  aforesaid  all  disorderly 
white  persons,  and  all  persons  exciting  the  In- 
dians to  hostilities,  and  to  surrender  up  all  fugi- 
tives from  justice  upon  th  i  requisition  of  the 
Governor  of  any  of  the  States;  that  they  shall 
have  power  to  demand  of  the  several  tribes  with- 
in the  said  frontier  line,  the  surrender  of  any  In- 
dian or  Indians  committing  acts  in  contradiction 
of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  in  case  of 
such  surrender,  to  inflict  punishment  theveon, 


330 


HOW    MARCUS    WHITMAN    SAVED   OREGON. 


according  to  th?  tenor  and  effect  of  said  laws, 
without  further  trial,  presuming  such  offending 
Indian  or  Indians  to  have  received  the  trial  and 
condemnation  of  the  tribe  to  which  he  or  they 
may  belong;  to  intercept  and  seize  all  articles  of 
contraband  trade,  whether  introduced  into  their 
jurisdiction  in  violation  of  the  acts  imposing  du- 
ties on  imports,  or  of  the  acts  to  regulate  trade 
and  intercourse  with  the  several  Indian  tribes, 
to  transmit  the  same  to  the  Marshal  of  the 
Western  District  of  Missouri,  together  with  the 
proofs  necessary  for  the  confiscation  thereof, 
and  in  every  such  case  the  Superintendent  shall 
be  entitled  to  receive  one-half  the  sale  value  of 
the  said  confiscated  articles,  and  the  other  half 
be  disposed  of  as  in  lik^  cases  arising  under  the 
existing  revenue  laws. 

Section  7. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  that 
the  several  Superintendents  shall  have  and  keep 
at  their  several  Posts,  seals  of  office  for  the 
legal  authentication  of  their  public  acts  herein 
enumerated,  and  that  the  said  seals  shall  have 
as  a  device  the  spread-eagle,  with  the  words,  "U. 
S.  Superintendendency  of  the  Frontier,"  en- 
graved thereon. 

Section  8. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  that 
the  said  Superintendents  shall  be  entitled,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  salary  hereinbefore  granted,  the 
following  perquisites  and  fees  of  office,  to-wit: 
For  the  acknowledgement  of  all  deeds  and  spe 


HOW    MARCUS    WHITMAN    SAVED    OREGON. 


331 


cialties,  the  sum  of  one  dollar;  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  all  oaths,  twenty-five  cents;  for  the 
authentication  of  all  copies  of  written  instru- 
ments, one  dollar;  for  the  perpetuation  of  all 
testimony  to  be  used  in  the  United  States  courts, 
by  the  folio,  fifty  cents;  for  the  probate  of  all 
wills  and  testaments,  by  the  folio,  fifty  cents;  for 
all  other  writing  done,  by  the  folio,  fifty  cents; 
for  solemnizing  marriages,  two  dollars,  including 
the  certificate  to  be  given  to  the  parties;  for  the 
surrender  of  fugitives  from  justice,  in  addition 
to  the  necessary  costs  and  expenses  of  arrest 
and  detention,  which  shall  be  verified  to  the  de- 
manding Governor  by  the  affidavit  of  the  Super- 
intendent, ten  dollars. 

Section  g. — And  be  it  further  enacted;  that 
the  said  Superintendents  shall,  b^  virtue  of  their 
offices,  be  postmasters  at  the  several  stations  for 
which  they  were  appointed,  and  as  such,  shall  be 
required  to  facilitate  the  transportation  of  mail 
to  and  from  the  Territory  of  Oregon  and  the 
nearest  postoffice  within  the  State  of  Missouri, 
subject  to  all  the  regulations  of  the  Postoffice  De- 
partment, and  with  all  the  immunities  and  priv- 
ileges of  the  postmasters  in  the  several  States, 
except  that  no  additional  compensation  shall  be 
allowed  for  such  services;  and  it  is  hereby  made 
the  duty  of  the  Postmaster  General  to  cause 
proposals  to  be  issued  for  the  transportation  of 
the  mail  along  the  line  of  said  Posts  to  and  from 


832 


HOW  MARCUS    WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


sand  Territory  within  six  months  after  the  pas- 
sage of  this  Act. 

Section  JO.    And  be  it  further  enacted,  that 

the  sum  of thousand  dollars  be,  and  the 

same  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of  any  moneys 
in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  several 
provisions  of  this  act. 


DR.  WHITMAN  S  SUGGESTIONS  TO  THE  SECRETARY  OF 

WAR,  AND  TO  THE  COMMISSIONERS  ON  INDIAN 

AFFAIRS  IN  OREGON,  IN  THE  U.  S.  SENATE 

AND   HOUSE   OF    REPRESENTATIVES, 

DATED   OCTOBER    1 6,    1 847. 

Perhaps  the  last  work  or  writing  of  a  public 
character  done  by  Dr.  Whitman,  bears  the  date 
of  Waiilatpui,  October  i6th,  1847.  It  was  only 
onfi  month  before  the  massacre,  and  addressed 
as  follows  : 

To  the  Hono7'able  the  Secretary  of  War,  to  the 
Committees  on  Indian  Affaivi,  and  Oregon,  in 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States,  the  following  stiggcstions 
are  respectfully  submitted : 

I  St.  That  all  Stations  of  the  United  States 
for  troops  be  kept  upon  the  borders  of  some 
State  or  Territory,  when  designed  for  the  pro- 
tection and  regulation  of  Indian  territory. 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


833 


2nd.  That  a  line  of  Posts  be  established  along 
the  traveled  route  to  Oregon,  at  a  distance,  so 
far  as  practicable,  of  not  more  than  50  miles. 
That  these  Posts  be  located  so  as  to  afford  the 
best  opportunity  for  agriculture  and  grazing,  to 
facilitate  the  production  of  provisions,  and  the 
care  of  horses  and  cattle,  for  the  use  and  support 
of  said  Posts,  and  to  furnish  supplies  to  all 
passers  through  Indian  territory,  especially  to 
mail-carriers  and  troops. 

These  Posts  should  be  placed  wherever  a 
bridge  or  ferry  would  be  required  to  facilitate 
the  transport  of  the  mail,  and  travel  of  troops 
or  immigrants  through  the  country. 

In  all  fertile  places,  these  Posts  would  support 
themselves,  and  give  facilities  for  the  several 
objects  just  named  in  transit.  The  other  Posts, 
situated  where  the  soil  would  not  admit  of  culti- 
vation, would  still  be  useful,  as  they  would  afford 
the  means  of  taking  care  of  horses,  and  other 
facilities  of  transporting  the  mails. 

These  Posts  could  be  supplied  with  provisions 
from  others  in  the  vicinity.  A  few  large  Post?, 
in  the  more  fertile  regions  could  supply  those 
more  in  the  mountains. 

On  the  other  hand,  military  Posts  can  only  be 
well  supplied  when  near  the  settlements.  In  this 
way  all  transports  for  the  supply  of  interior 
military  Posts  would  be  superseded. 

The  number  of  men  at  these  Posts  might  vary 
from  five  to  twenty-five. 


834  HOW   MARCUS   WHITMAN   SAVED   OREGON. 


In  the  interior  the  buildings  may  be  built  with 
adobies,  that  is,  large,  unburnt  bricks ;  and  in 
form  and  size  should  much  resemble  the  common 
Indian  Trading  Posts,  with  outer  walls  and 
bastions. 

They  would  thus  afford  the  same  protection 
in  any  part  of  the  territory  as  the  common 
Trading  Posts. 

If  provided  with  a  small  amount  of  goods, 
such  goods  could  be  bartered  with  the  Indians 
for  necessary  supplies,  as  well  as,  on  proper 
occasions,  given  to  chiefs  as  a  reward  for  punish- 
ing those  who  disturb  or  offend  against  the  peace 
of  the  territory, 

By  these  means  the  Indians  would  become  the 
protectors  of  those  Stations. 

At  the  same  time  by  being  under  one  General 
Superintendent,  siibjec'  to  the  inspection  of  the 
Government,  the  Indians  may  be  concentrated 
under  one  genenal  influence. 

By  such  a  superintendence  the  Indians  would 
be  prevented  from  fleeing  from  one  place  to 
another  to  secrete  themselves  from  justice.  By 
this  simple  arrangement  all  the  need  of  troops  in 
the  interior  would  be  obviated,  unless  in  some 
instance  when  the  Indians  fail  to  co-operate  with 
the  Superintendent  of  the  Post  or  Posts,  for  the 
promotion  of  peace. 

When  troops  shall  be  called  for,  to  visit  the 
interior,  ihe  farming  Posts  will  be  able  to  furnish 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN   SAVED  OREGON. 


335 


them  with  supplies  in  passing  so  as  to  make  their 
movements  speedy  and  efficient. 

A  code  of  laws  for  the  Indian  territory  might 
constitute  as  civil  magistrates  the  first,  or 
second,  in  command  of  these  Posts. 

The  same  arrangement  would  be  equally 
well  adapted  for  the  respective  routes  to  Cali- 
fornia and  New  Mexico. 

Many  reasons  may  be  urged  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  these  Posts,  among  which  are  the 
following: 

1st.  By  means  of  such  Posts,  all  acts  of  the 
Indians  would  be  under  a  full  and  complete 
inspection.  A,ll  cases  of  murder,  theft,  or  other 
outrage  would  be  brought  to  light  and  the  proper 
punishment  inflicted. 

27id.  In  most  cases  this  may  be  ^onc  by 
giving  the  Chiefs  a  small  fee  that  they  may  either 
punish  the  offenders  themselves,  or  deliver  them 
up  to  the  commander  of  th  Post.  In  such  cp^^es 
it  should  be  held  that  thei  peers  have  adjudged 
them  guilty  before  punishment  is  inflicted. 

jrd.  By  means  of  these  Posts  it  will  become 
safe  and  easy  for  the  'smallest  number  to  pass 
and  repass  from  Oregon  to  the  States;  and  with  a 
civil  magistrate  at  each  Station,  all  idle  wander- 
ing white  men  without  passports  can  be  sent  out 
of  the  territory. 

4th.     In  this  way  all  banditti  for  robbing  the 
mails,  or  travellers,  wouh    be  prevented,  as  well 


336 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


as  all  vagabonds  removed  from  among  the 
Indians. 

5th.  Immigrants  now  lose  horses  and  other 
stock  by  the  Indians,  commencing  from,  the 
border  of  the  States  to  the  Willamette.  It  is 
much  to  the  praise  of  our  countrymen  that  they 
bear  so  long  with  the  Indians  when  our  Govern- 
ment has  done  bo  little  to  enable  them  to  pass  in 
safety. 

For  one  man  to  lose  five  or  six  horses  is  not 
a  rare  occurrence,  which  loss  is  felt  heavily, 
when  most  of  the  family  are  compelled  to  walk, 
to  favor  a  reduced  and  failing  team. 

6th.  The  India. .3  along  the  line  take  courage 
from  the  forbearance  of  the  immigrants.  The 
timid  Indians  on  the  Columbia,  ha^  a  this  year  in 
open  day,  attacked  several  parties  of  wagons, 
numbering  from  two  to  seven,  and  robbed  them, 
being  armed  with  guns,  bows  and  arrows,  knives 
ant*  axes.  Mr.  Glenday  from  St.  Charles,  Mo., 
the  bearer  of  this  communication  to  the  States, 
with  Mr.  Bear,  his  companion,  rescued  seven 
wagons  from  being  plundered,  and  the  people 
from  gross  insults,  rescuing  one  woman,  when  the 
Indians  were  in  the  act  of  taking  all  the  clothes 
IroiTi  her  person.  The  men  were  mostly  stripped 
of  their  shirts  and  pantaloons  at  the  time. 

']th.  The  occasional  supplies  to  passing 
ir,  'Tiigrants,  as  well  as  the  aid  which  may  be 
afforded  to  the  sick  and  needy,  are  not  the  least 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


337 


;s 


of  the  important   results  to  follow  from  these 
establishments. 

A  profitable  exchange  to  the  Posts  and  immi- 
grants, as  also  to  others  journeying  through  the 
country,  can  be  made  by  exchanging  worn  out 
horses  and  cattle  for  fresh  ones. 

8th.  It  scarcely  need  be  mentioned  what  ad- 
vantage the  Government  will  derive  by  a  similar 
exchange  for  the  transport  of  the  mail,  as  also 
for  the  use  of  troops  passing  through. 

gth.  To  suppress  the  use  of  ardent  spirits 
among  the  Indians  it  will  be  requisite  to  regard 
the  giving  or  furnishing  of  it  in  any  manner  as 
a  breach  of  the  laws  and  peace  of  the  territory. 

All  Superintendents  of  Posts,  traders,  and  re- 
sponsible persons,  should  be  charged  on  oath, 
that  they  will  not  sell,  give  or  furnish  in  any 
manner,  ardent  spirits  to  the  Indians. 

loth.  Traders  should  be  regarded  by  reason 
of  the  license  they  have  to  trade  in  the  territory, 
as  receiving  a  privilege,  and  therefore  should  be 
required  to  give  and  maintain  good  credentials 
of  character.  For  this  reason  they  may  be  re- 
quired to  send  in  the  testimony  of  all  their  clerks 
and  assistants  of  all  ranks,  to  show  under  the 
solemnity  of  an  oath,  that  the  laws  in  this  re- 
spect have  not  been  violated  or  evaded.  If  at 
any  time  it  became  apparent  to  the  Superinten- 
dent of  any  Post  that  the  laws  have  been  vio- 
lated, he  might  be  required  to  make  full  inquiry 
22 


838 


HOW   MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


of  ail  in  any  way  connected  with  or  assisting  in 
the  trade,  to  ascertain  whether  the  laws  were 
broken  or  their  breach  connived  at.  This  will 
avail  for  the  regular  licensed  trader. 

nth.  For  illicit  traders  and  smugglers  it 
will  suffice  to  instruct  Commanders  of  Posts  to 
offer  a  reward  to  the  Indians  for  the  safe  deliv- 
ery of  any  and  all  such  persons  as  bring  liquors 
among  them,  together  with  the  liquors  thus 
brought. 

It  is  only  on  the  borders  of  the  respective 
States  and  Territories  that  any  interruption  will 
be  found  in  the  operation  of  these  principles. 

1 2th.  Here  also  a  modification  of  the  same 
principle  enacted  by  the  several  States  and  Terri- 
tories might  produce  equally  happy  results. 

i^th.  The  mail  may,  with  a  change  of  horses 
every  fifty  miles,  be  carried  at  the  rate  of  one 
hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  piiles  in  twenty- 
four  hours. 

14th.  The  leading  reason  in  favor  of  adopt- 
ing the  aforesaid  regulations  would  be,  that  by 
this  means  the  Indians  would  become  our  faith- 
ful allies.  In  fact,  they  will  be  the  best  possible 
police  for  such  a  territory.  This  police  can 
safely  be  relied  upon  when  under  a  good  super- 
vision. Troops  will  only  be  required  to  correct 
their  faults  in  cases  of  extreme  misconduct. 

iSth.  Jn  closing,  I  would  remark  that  I  have 
conversed  with  many  of  the  principal  fur-traders 


HOW  MARCUS  WHITMAN  SAVED  OREGON. 


830 


of  the  American  and  Hudson  Bay  Companies, 
all  of  whom  agree  that  the  several  regulations 
suggested  in  this  communication  will  accomplish 
the  object  proposed,  were  suitable  men  appointed 
for  its  management  and  execution. 

Respectfully  yours, 

■  Marcus  Whitman. 

Waiilaitui,  Oct.  1 6th,  1847. 


